THE TIMES OF , 6 South Pole: A Deep Dive Into Politics, Society And Culture THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015

Turning 50 This Month, Jolly Rovers League Team Has Produced Many Famous Cricketers CROWD CONTROL Why temple fests in Star-studded half century forests need regulation [email protected]

[email protected] n the Tamil month of Adi JOURNEY OF TRIUMPHS – starting July 15 this year he IIT-Chemplast I – temples across the state ground could well rank While winning has been a habit with the team, former India keeper come alive with festivals. among the most pictur- Bharath Reddy has instilled consistency in its performances But along with the festivals T esque cricketing ven- comes uncleared litter left by ues in the country. JR MEN WHO MADE IT BIG: Murali Vijay, R ROLL OF HONOUR devotees, which is a problem Ringed with trees all around, the Ashwin, , L Balaji, Harbhajan Palayampatti Shield: 18 anywhere but could be espe- greenery is testimony to the ever- Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Hemang Badani, Munaf times | VAP Trophy cially harmful in forest areas. green Jolly Rovers whose home Records show that nearly 100 Patel, , S Badrinath, M (TNCA limited overs): 5 ground it is. Venkatramana, TA Sekar, , Sujith temples are located in the core | BCCI Corporate Not many teams can boast of Somasundar, VB Chandrasekar, S forest areas of the state – half of Trophy: 1 (2013) | Buchi dominating the Venkataraghavan, L Sivaramakrishnan, Anil them under the control of the Association (TNCA) league circuit Kumble, Bharath Arun, TE Srinivasan, Harvinder Babu Tournament: 3 | Hindu Religious and Charitable as JR, which completes 50 years this Singh, Debasis Mohanty YSCA Trophy : 2 | Hindu Endowment (HR & CE) Board. month. Initially supported by Trophy (Madras CA): 8 | During festivals, many visitors the late K S Narayanan, founder Moin-ud Dowla Trophy: stay for nearly a week in and of Chemplast and India Ce- 6 | KSCA Trophy: 3 | around the temples. At this time ments’ co-founder, the baton was Corporate Trophy not only does garbage including soon passed on to his sons N ( CA): 1 | Canara plastic gets dumped but the wa- Sankar and N Kumar. The third Bank centenary: 1 | ter bodies also get polluted. Hu- generation is being represented CCFC T20 tourney, man defecation in the open by Vijay Sankar. Kolkata: 1 | Arlem harms wildlife. For nearly a The 1966-67 season, which saw BEYOND BOUNDARY: Picturesque IIT-Chemplast ground of Jolly Rovers. (Left) The team month after the festival, the Trophy, Goa: 3 the commencement of the asso- that won the TNCA league in 1966-67 boasted of stars like P K Belliappa wildlife stays away from the tem- ciation between JR and the family, QUOTE HANGER Former players who have been part of Jolly Rovers share anecdotes and memorable moments over the years ples, say naturalists. This often proved to be a watershed year for means lack of access to water WORSHIP RULES: There are more than 100 temples located in the team as they won their maiden Murali Vijay | Among the B Kalyanasundaram: cops were finding it difficult to Bharath Reddy: Jolly Rovers since temples are typically lo- TNCA first-division league title and cated near sources of water. forest areas of the state. finished runners-up to State Bank of many grounds that I During a Buchi Babu manage the crowd and they winning the BCCI Corporate For instance, ‘chitra pour- Festivals in these temples can India (SBI) in the Hindu Trophy. “We have played, the IIT- match in 1971, a crowd of refused to let me in since they Trophy at Indore during the nami’ day is celebrated in a take a toll on the environment had a fantastic side with the likes of Chemplast ground (our home over 6,000 had gathered at didn’t recognize me. 2012-13 season has to be grand manner in May every K R Rajagopal, P K Belliappa, Najam ground) will have to be the Loyola grounds Fortunately, the Jolly the best moment for us. year. Only on that day pilgrims nearly 10 days. Hussain, K S Kannan, S Venkatara- one of the finest. It’s since Sunil Rovers marker Manickam We beat the best are allowed to visit Kannagi To begin with, the depart- ghavan and B Kalyanasundaram picturesque and is Gavaskar was told the policeman that I corporate teams in the temple, located in the hills of ment brought down the among others,” said N Sankar, chair- Periyar Tiger Reserve. Just on number of staying days from man of Sanmar Group. right at the heart of playing in that was a player and should country and it was a one day, five tonnes of garbage 10 to 4. Then the department The win that season acted as a the city game for ACC. The be allowed in. huge high. accumulates here. Disposing it sold firewood to pilgrims so fillip for the team, and they never is a herculean task, say forest they didn’t have to cut trees. looked back. From 1967-68 onwards, More importantly, the Reddy era nament wins. “In each phase of its Sankar, lies in the talent-scouting Mumbai, the spectators will be cheer- officials. Jeep rides are allowed “Regular awareness campaigns the ensuing four seasons saw JR win saw the emergence of some fine journey, JR has had the right cricket- skills of Reddy. “He has been instru- ing for them,” added Sankar. to the top where the temple is have helped to reduce pollution two out of the three big tournaments talent from the state in leg-spinner ers for the right role. More impor- mental in getting some of the best As JR raises its willow on its located, which pollutes the en- and garbage dumping,” the of- every year — the TNCA league, L Sivaramakrishnan, medium- tantly, the team never shied away into the side and that has helped us half-century, those who have had tire stretch from the bottom to ficer said. Buchi Babu tournament and the pacer Bharath Arun, V B Chan- from going for players out of the dominate the scene for long,” he said. the pleasure of watching them play the top, they say. Last year, wild- Coimbatore-based natural- Hindu Trophy. drasekhar and Robin Singh. “The state,” pointed out former player B A side that has packed itself with will be more than happy to doff life authorities asked district ist K. Mohan Raj says that The 70s witnessed the mush- side provided the right platform for Kalyanasundaram. the best in business and played to its their hats off to a side that has been forest officials to collect data strict implementation of rules rooming of other teams in the cir- youngsters to express themselves The last decade-and-half too has potential is bound to rule the scene a torch-bearer when it comes to regarding the number of pil- is needed. “I have seized snares cuit. The 80s saw former India wick- not just in local events but also in been fruitful as the team has contin- as JR has done so far. But, there consistency. grims visiting temples deep that were being openly sold in etkeeper Bharath Reddy enter the all-India tournaments,” Arun had ued to produce results on a regular seems to be a flip side to it as well. inside forests, quantity of gar- a make-shift shop near the JR scene. Reddy brought with him said in an earlier interaction with basis. “I feel the best phase for us has “There was so much dominance that, Email us your feedback with bage generated and related in- Karuvannarayan temple lo- a fearless brand of cricket and his TOI. been in the last decade when we won on many occasions, the crowd would full name and address to formation. But no followup ac- cated in the core areas of Sath- never-say-die attitude rubbed off on The eighties and nineties saw JR consistently,” noted Sankar. turn up and support the opposite southpole.toi tion has been taken, said a yamangalam tiger reserve. his teammates. continue their march towards tour- The USP of JR, according to teams. Even if there is a team from @timesgroup.com senior wildlife officer. Forest officials are often not The Kalakkad – Mundan- vigilant,” he said. Forest offi- thurai Tiger Reserve has set an cials should conduct meetings “For poachers, vermin tag A WILD IDEA age and stage structure of an environmental factors such as seldom work. In the case of wild example in managing visitors with HR and CE authorities to can be cover for overkill” animal can determine their rainfall. This natural activity of the boars, which constitute an and reducing pollution at the plan crowd regulation. “This (July 2) said that allowing he claim of the rising population population growth. Furthermore the species finds mention in the important prey for carnivores like Sori Muthaiyyanar temple, lo- will help to reduce garbage the free culling of wild T of wild boars is questionable as present methods for monitoring acclaimed naturalist late E R C tigers, wild dogs, leopards and cated in the core areas of Mun- generation,” he said. animal population have to be Davidar’s book, ‘Whispers from the wolves, their culling would disturb boar as vermin without a the Tamil Nadu government does danthurai. A senior wildlife A proposal has been drawn not have any process of monitoring improved as they ignore problems Wild’. It must be noted that field the food chain. The decline in the proper study of the official said the temple used to up on regulation of crowds at it. Even if a survey is conducted now such as detection probability and research is a pre-requisite for number of wild boars could also attract thousands of visitors temples located in core forest population would lead to it cannot be conclusive since only spatial sampling. Wild boar numbers conservation and management of trigger a human-carnivore conflict. unrestrained killings of the particularly during Aadi Am- areas. It has been sent to the long-term data on variables have been known to swell and wildlife populations and singular Lakshmi Narayan & S Bharathi mavasai. Till 2008, the visitors government for clearance, said TALK BACK TALK animal. population size, mortality, birth rate, plummet in response to decisions to tackle a problem Dasan, Coimbatore used to camp in the open for a senior forest officer.

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