CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has lauded the Tamil Nadu government for its concerted action to remove invasive weed species, including Lantana camara and Prosopis juliflora, for saving the environment and ecology by formulating clear policies.
“At the outset, we record that the forest department is making good progress in the matter of removal of invasive species in the sense that it has formulated clear policy in respect of each of the species. We think the time has come to make giant strides in this regard,” said a special division bench of Justices N Sathish Kumar and D Bharatha Chakravarthy recently while hearing the petitions relating to forest-related matters.
It noted that the total area, where the Lantana camara needed to be removed, is 1,634 hectares, of which, the weeds were removed in 1,459.06 hectares.
The court also had a word of appreciation for the government creating a “dashboard” to provide instant information on the drive to root out the invasive species harming the environment.
Stating that the “dashboard” has been created successfully, the bench said apart from uploading the data, it shall be a one-stop place to know all about the invasive species, total area identified, the area where the species were removed, and all such information can be integrated.
The bench also said that such information that can be accessed by the public shall be provided without a password-protected login.
Referring to a status report filed by special government pleader T Seenivasan furnishing information on the steps taken so far, the bench noted that identification of Prosopis juliflora and yield estimation works are being undertaken to comply with the court’s order to remove the weeds from 50 hectares per month.
“Therefore, we are sure that if the work goes on with the same commitment, Tamil Nadu will be a leader in the country in the removal of the invasive species, which will be a great service to posterity,” the bench remarked.