MADURAI: The High Court Bench reserved order on a batch of public interest litigations which sought direction to remove invasive species of trees from the Western Ghats.
R K Upadhyay, Chairman of Tamil Nadu Forest Plantation Corporation Ltd, who appeared before a division bench comprising Justices M M Sundresh and N Sathish Kumar on Monday, sought for a time of six months to constitute a committee to formulate steps for proceeding with the removal of the species.
Upadhyay submitted that there is around 20,000 hectares of invasive species spread in the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu that need to be removed and replaced by indigenous species.
A maximum of 3000 hectares of the trees can be removed by the government annually through manual method, as any other method of removal may prove devastating to the forest as well as the animals living in them, he stated, adding that the government would need an average of Rs 225 crore per year for the process.
He also added that over Rs 15.9 crore fund has been allotted for the purpose so far.
In answer to a series of other questions raised by the Judges about the acknowledgement given to the local tribes who work as anti-poaching watchers in forests, Upadhyay said that a proposal has been submitted to the government to enhance their wages from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000.
He stated that the tribes will be involved in the above project and will be absorbed into the sanctioned posts after completing 10 years of service.
Taking note of the above submissions, the Judges reserved their order.