Toxic parthenium plants take over areas in Coonoor and Kotagiri

The Nilgiris:The overgrowth of poisonous parthenium plants in Coonoor, Kotagiri and the surrounding villages has caused a situation ideal for the spread of asthma and allergies.

Villages like Vasampallam, Alakkarai, Aravenu, Thattapallam, Kaithala near Coonoor and Kotagiri are filled with hundreds of residences and tea estates.Parthenium plants have been seen growing in large numbers in these areas on the roadsides .

While doctors warn that parthenium plants can cause asthma and allergies, the danger of infection in the villages has increased due to the plants.

Many of the villagers in these parts grow cattle such as cows, goats and buffaloes. They are let to graze in tea estates and other lands. The dense overgrowth of parthenium in some places have led the cattle to suffer from skin diseases.

Further, the seeds of the parthenium stick on to the skin of the cattle and are carried everywhere they go. These are then spread far and wide and tend to spread their poisonous existence everywhere.

Hence, the people of these areas have requested the Municipality and the Town Panchayats to take action to clear away the parthenium plants wherever they are found, in and around the villages in Coonoor and Kotagiri.