HC directs TN to plant native trees instead of invasive species

CHENNAI: A division bench of Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the State government to take steps to plant native species of trees under the Pasumai Tamil Nadu scheme in the places where invasive species like Prosopis Juliflora are removed.

A special bench hearing the forest and wildlife protection cases comprising Justice N Sathish Kumar and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy passed the direction on hearing a batch of petitions filed by several people including MDMK general secretary Vaiko. The petitioners sought direction to remove all the invasive trees and plantations from the State.

When the matter was taken up by the bench, the judges asked the state to plant the native plant species after the invasive trees were removed. The court further advised the state to implement the project under the Pasumai Tamil Nadu scheme.

When the forest department submitted that it had removed Seemai Karuvelam trees from 2750 hectares of water bodies out of the 1.19 lakh hectares, the judges indicated that the foreign species trees in the remaining water bodies shall be removed by awarding tenders to the private players.

While hearing another case related to the forest and wildlife protection in the Western Ghats, the bench directed the state to establish plastic materials collection centers in Ooty and Kodaikanal to prevent plastic menace inside the forest area.

Earlier, the state appraised the steps taken by the government to eradicate plastic inside the court campus. “We have planned to set up five Yellow Cotton Bag (Manjal Pai) vending machines inside the court campus. Also, 10 machines will be placed to destroy the plastic materials inside the HC premises,” the state submitted.

The judges sought a report on all these matters and adjourned the matter to November 24.