2 months ago
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The communicative truthful far: The Madras High Court connected March 18, 2026 issued a acceptable of 34 directions for the eradication of the exotic and invasive taxon prosopis juliflora (seemai karuvelam successful Tamil) from Tamil Nadu. One of those directions states each backstage landowners indispensable uproot those plants from their properties wrong 30 days failing which the territory medication acrophobic shall deracinate them and retrieve the costs from the landowners.
The tribunal besides made it wide if those spot owners explicit willingness to works autochthonal saplings, they indispensable beryllium fixed the saplings of their prime escaped of cost. The latest acceptable of directives person been issued aft a bid of orders passed by the tribunal successful the past 12 years failed to execute the desired effect of eliminating the invasive taxon successful toto.
Why is prosopis juliflora considered harmful?
A peculiar Division Bench of Justices N. Sathish Kumar and D. Bharatha Chakravarthy constituted to perceive situation and wood related cases has answered this question successful its latest order. It pointed retired the taxon originated successful the South American countries and was introduced successful different continents during the aboriginal days of colonisation for being utilized arsenic firewood. “Though, initially, it served the intent of providing firewood to the individuals and besides arsenic concern substance too being utilized successful the ceramic kilns and the charcoal industry, it has proven to beryllium a catastrophe for our situation and ecology,” the judges said.
The tribunal said, prosopis juliflora had destroyed the fertile lands, grasslands and the mossy and spongy world of forests and the onshore beneath these trees had been transformed into barren grounds. Secondly, the exotic taxon had displaced the autochthonal flora. “A assortment of Indian trees and plants person fixed mode to this fittest subsister and it present enjoys a monopoly,” the bid read. It besides stated the maturation of the invasive taxon had resulted successful depletion of groundwater array and reduced moisture level successful areas wherever it could beryllium recovered successful abundance.
When did the tribunal statesman to ace the whip?
On January 9, 2014 a Division Bench of Justices R. Sudhakar and V.M. Velumani (both retired now) had ordered removal of prosopis juliflora from each rivers and h2o bodies successful the State “for the betterment of the farmers arsenic good arsenic the radical of the country.” When the bid was not complied with and a contempt of tribunal petition was filed, the aforesaid Bench, connected August 6, 2015 directed the State authorities to formulate a strategy for eradication of the invasive taxon “which is causing a large situation problem.”
Thereafter, erstwhile Madurai Mayor M. Patturajan (since dead) filed a nationalist involvement litigation (PIL) petition against prosopis juliflora and helium was followed by Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) wide caput Vaiko. Passing a bid of orders successful these 2 cases since 2015, the High Court had called for adept reports from bodies specified arsenic National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) which confirmed the harmful quality of the invasive species.
In 2016 and 2017, a Division Bench of Justices A. Selvam and P. Kalaiyarasan (both retired) began making idiosyncratic inspections successful the confederate districts, pulled up the Collectors acrophobic for not uprooting the trees, directed the territory judges to show the eradication enactment and appointed immense fig of advocator commissioners for each districts to instrumentality banal of the advancement made. However, successful April 2017, the 2 cases were referred to a Full Bench (comprising 3 judges).
Three antithetic Full Benches headed by erstwhile Chief Justices Indira Banerjee, A.P. Sahi and Munishwar Nath Bhandari excessively were convinced with the harmful effect of prosopis juliflora and a absorption was issued to the State authorities connected February 2, 2022 to formulate a strategy for eradication of the invasive taxon nether the supervision of the territory Collectors.
It was lone aft this direction, the Tamil Nadu authorities came up with the Tamil Nadu Policy connected Invasive Plants and Ecological Restoration (TNPIPER) connected July 13, 2022. Thereafter, the PILs were ordered to beryllium listed earlier the peculiar Division Bench for monitoring.
What prevented the implementation of the orders?
Ever since the cases were listed earlier the peculiar Division Bench of Justices Kumar and Chakravarthy successful September 2022, the judges began nudging the authorities to intensify the deracination process and state astatine slightest 1 territory successful the State arsenic escaped from prosopis juliflora. When that did not happen, they insisted that astatine slightest 2 villages whitethorn beryllium declared prosopis juliflora escaped each month. The judges yet recovered nary of the goals could beryllium achieved due to the fact that the lands connected which the invasive taxon had grown belonged to antithetic entities specified arsenic section bodies, wood department, nationalist works department, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department, railways, backstage individuals and determination was deficiency of coordination.
On uncovering that the efforts enactment successful by the tribunal for implicit a decennary did not output the desired result, the judges wrote: “In this case, 11 years person gone by aft this tribunal took up the issue, and determination has been nary important progress. There are present lone 2 options disposable to this Bench. First, to initiate contempt proceedings against the respondents. If a contempt enactment is invoked, it would lone effect successful punishing each respondents, and that, by itself, volition not output the desired effect of removing the invasive species, which is simply a mammoth task, however, to beryllium completed if determination is simply a will. Therefore, we person nary alternate but to instrumentality the alternate option. That is, to contented further directions and guarantee the compliance of the orders of this court.”
The judges with the assistance of amici curiae T. Mohan, Chevanan Mohan, Rahul Balaji and M. Santhanaraman came up with a acceptable of 34 caller directions which contemplate engagement of pupil volunteers and monitoring of the eradication enactment by 2 retired High Court judges V. Bharathidasan for the bluish districts and Mr. Selvam for the confederate districts.
How is the caller acceptable of directions antithetic from erstwhile orders?
The latest tribunal bid directs the Tamil Nadu authorities to sanction the task of eradication of prosopis juliflora and replacing it with autochthonal taxon arsenic ‘Sezhumai Karuvoolam’ and states it could beryllium implemented without immoderate large fiscal load connected the State.
Since the invasive taxon could beryllium utilized arsenic concern fuel, the authorities could auction the uprooting enactment to backstage entities, cod indispensable charges and support it successful a abstracted relationship truthful that the wealth could beryllium utilized for planting and nurturing autochthonal species. The Collectors had been ordered to enactment arsenic nodal officers betwixt each authorities departments and the Environment Secretary had been directed to make a webpage and support a dashboard regarding the enactment done.
The authorities officials had besides been directed to person complaints from the nationalist done a dedicated telephone fig and besides done societal media apps regarding the beingness of prosopis juliflora successful their locality and instrumentality enactment to uproot them. “As acold arsenic possible, the enactment shall beryllium carried retired similar combing operations declaring the villages to Firkas to Taluks and yet the districts being prosopis juliflora free,” the Bench ordered.
Stating autochthonal taxon indispensable beryllium planted wrong 30 days of uprooting of the invasive species, the judges ordered documentation of those autochthonal taxon nether the rubric ‘Sezhumai Karuvoola Arasithazh’ which shall beryllium maintained done the territory histrion committees. “They tin prosecute the services of volunteers, including students and greenish enthusiasts, for this purpose. The extremity is to support the information with passion, not conscionable for compliance’s sake. At the extremity of the 3rd year, if the autochthonal saplings had grown, the district-wise grounds shall beryllium compiled and published arsenic an physics PDF connected the website,” the bid read.
Exceptional cases
Further, taking into information the imaginable nonaccomplishment of situation for the birds, the tribunal said: “In exceptional areas similar Vedanthangal (bird sanctuary), wherever prosopis juliflora serves arsenic nesting sites for birds, removal shall beryllium carried retired successful a phased mode with simultaneous alternate arrangements specified arsenic planting of different species.”
Making it wide that the uprooting of prosopis juliflora indispensable beryllium completed good earlier the commencement of the adjacent monsoon season, the judges decided to support the PILs pending and walk further orders from clip to time.
