The Madras High Court on Friday directed the Forest Department to come up with a comprehensive plan to dispose of several lakh tonnes of trees that would get collected when it commences the pilot project to annihilate exotic and invasive species from 700 acres of forest land in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, Aanamalai Tiger Reserve, Kodaikanal and Dharmapuri districts.
A Division Bench of Justices V. Bharathidasan and N. Sathish Kumar asked Additional Advocate General J. Ravindran to ensure that the plan for disposal of the felled trees gets submitted to the State Wildlife Board chaired by the Chief Minister so that necessary approvals could be obtained for selling those trees either to private industries for being used as firewood or to the tribals for making furniture.
Earlier, the AAG informed the High Court of the Finance Secretary having agreed to sanction funds for commencing the pilot project and stated that the exotic and invasive species such as eucalyptus, wattle, lantana and prosopis juliflora would be removed from the 700 acres within a month after the sanction. After uprooting them, the department would plant indigenous species to restore the shola forests.
Plastic ban
Subsequently, taking up another case related to plastic ban in the hill stations, the judges modified their earlier order directing the Nilgiris Collector to lock and seal the shops that were continuing to sell food and water in the banned plastics. On being informed of several petty shops having been sealed in compliance of the court order, the judges took sympathetic view and ordered to remove the seals.
It was however made clear that written undertakings must be obtained from the shop owners stating that they would not sell the banned plastics henceforth and that their shops could be locked and sealed permanently if they violate the undertaking. “All of them appear to be petty shop owners who are eking their livelihood with great difficulty. Let them operate subject to filing of an undertaking,” Justice Bharathidasan said.
When a case related to shifting the residents of Thengumarahada village in the Nilgiris district to pave way for free movement of wild animals was taken up for hearing, advocate Thangavadhana Balakrishnan filed an impleading petition on behalf of the residents and insisted upon payment of adequate compensation for agreeing to move out of the place. The judges allowed the impleading petition.
They also directed the AAG to ascertain within two weeks the stand of the State government on shifting the residents and the alternative accommodation that could be provided to the residents. The AAG said that the matter was under the active consideration of the government after a report submitted a court appointed committee and that he would obtain instructions on further developments by the next date of hearing.
Transfer of officials
On the directions issued by the court to transfer forest officials who had been serving in the same station for more than three years, in order to prevent them from getting familiarised with the local forest offenders and begin aiding them, the AAG submitted a list of the members of a committee that had been constituted to collect data related to the forest officials and the stations they had been working in.
He also said that the Forest Department had requested the government to sanction ₹ 12 lakh for creating an online employees transfer portal so that there could be greater transparency in effecting transfers periodically.
