Justices V. Bharathidasan and N. Sathish Kumar of the Madras High Court have decided to visit the Nilgiris on April 9 to take stock of various issues including the proposed commencement of a pilot project to annihilate the exotic and invasive species for restoring the shola forests on the Western Ghats and the implementation of the ban imposed on one-time use plastics.
The judges, on Friday, directed the Nilgiris Collector to not just fine the shops that continue to sell the banned plastics but also close and seal those shops. “Let them come to us, then we shall deal with them,” Justice Bharathidasan said when the Collector told the court that some shops were continuing to sell the banned plastics, including water bottles, despite imposition of fine.
The Division Bench also came down heavily on Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) for continuing to sell liquor in plastic bottles in the Nilgiris. The judges warned the Corporation of ordering closure of all liquor shops in the district if there was no positive action. “We will close down all shops, then you go to the Supreme Court and test our order,” the judge added.
Since carrying of one-time-use plastic water bottles to the district had been banned, the judges asked the Collector to ensure that all water dispensers, established at vantage points, were in working condition by April 8. Since these dispensers charge ₹ 2 per litre, the judges asked the Collector to consider establishing RO plants at Udhagamandalam to provide water for free too.
The judges also decided to visit the train route between Palakkad in Kerala and Podanur in Coimbatore on April 10 to ascertain the steps taken to prevent death of elephants due to train hits. They wanted to take stock of the solar lights and fencing arrangements made by the Southern Railway and inspect the sites where it had planned to construct two underpasses at a cost of ₹ 7.49 crore.
The judges asked Southern Railway counsel P.T. Ramkumar, senior counsel P.H. Arvindh Pandian, T. Mohan and M. Santhanaraman, who had been assisting the court in a batch of forest and wildlife related cases as amicus curiae, and petitioner lawyers T. Lajapathi Roy and R. Alagumani too to accompany them during the visit to be made along with the railway and forest department officials.
On the issue of relocating the residents of Thengumarahada village in the Nilgiris, so that the wild animals could have free movement, the judges granted three more weeks’ time for the State government to enunciate its stand. Additional Advocate General J. Ravindran told the court that the issue of identifying alternative lands was under the consideration of the Revenue Department.
