CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the Tamil Nadu government to plant native plant varieties in commensuration with the removal of prosopis juliflora invasive weeds.
In another case, regarding the ‘buyback’ scheme for liquor bottles in hill stations, the court ordered the district Collectors concerned to immediately set up collection centres to receive the empty bottles and plastic goods in Ooty and Kodaikanal. They were also directed to hold a meeting of stakeholders in 10 days to discuss steps to ensure no plastic items are sold in hill stations and file a report on the matters by November 24.
The Additional Advocate General (AAG) submitted that sites for setting up the centres have been identified and steps are afoot in this regard.
The directions were issued by a special division bench of Justices N Sathish Kumar and D Bharatha Chakravarthy, hearing forest-related matters. Meanwhile, the AAG informed the bench that ‘manjapai’ vending machines will be installed in the premises of the high court in Chennai, along with plastic-crushing machines on November 10.