CHENNAI : A division bench of the Madras High Court gave a green signal to the management of the Eye Hospital in Egmore to remove fully grown trees and transplant them at some other place on the campus.
The second bench of Justices Vineet Kothari and R Suresh Kumar was hearing a PIL petition from retired army officer PB Narayan of Egmore on Tuesday.
After going through expert reports from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and the Agricultural department which had stated that out of 58 trees identified at the Eye Hospital campus, only 19 were normal, 22 not normal due to age and the remaining dead, the judges directed the authorities to undertake transplantation work with due care.
Stating that, adequate and proper care should not be restricted to the trees which are transplanted, the bench said “The new saplings around 500 in number, which were planted recently, as stated by the authorities, should also be taken care of, so that the balance of ecology is maintained.”
The bench, which disposed of the PIL petition, directed the authorities to furnish progress report on the transplantation and maintenance of the trees, along with site photos on quarterly basis. The first report should be filed in April, 2020, the bench added.