In a first of its kind move, the Madras High Court Bench here has decided to involve itself in field work too by uprooting ‘seemai karuvelam’ (Prosopis juliflora) trees, an invasive species considered harmful to nature, from the Vaigai and Cauvery riverbeds under supervision of judges and Advocate Commissioners appointed by it.
High Court Registry officials said the court had so far mobilised nearly ₹10 lakh in a bank account opened on March 22 and operated by the Registrar (Administration) exclusively for the purpose of collecting money for eradication of the trees from select locations along the coourse of the rivers. “Initially, the account was opened to mobilise money for the social cause by channelising costs imposed by various judges of the High Court in appropriate cases. However, it became a preferred choice for individuals to make donations after Justice A. Selvam, the administrative judge of the Bench, deposited ₹10,000 from his wallet,” a court official said. Many others, including advocates, had donated liberally for the cause. Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko, former Transport Minister K.N. Nehru and former Mayor M. Patturajan had donated ₹15,000, ₹1 lakh and ₹10,000 respectively.
The court began mobilising money after officials continued to cite shortage of funds for the slow progress in removing the trees.
Advocate Commissioner for Madurai R. Gandhi said it was for the first time that High Court judges were involved in person to ensure that the orders passed by the court to eradicate the trees from public and private lands in the State, was implemented effectively. Though the order was passed by a Division Bench of Mr. Justice Selvam and Justice P. Kalaiyarasan, Justices N. Kirubakaran and S. Vaidyanathan also showed a keen interest and inspected the tree-removing work in various districts.
“The judges have inspected the works in Madurai, Dindigul, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, Tiruchi, Pudukottai and Tirupur. The very fact that the judges are willing to brave the hot sun to obtain first hand information, has created an enthusiasm among others too,” he said.
RM. Arun Swaminathan, Advocate Commissioner in-charge of Sivaganga district, said the order passed by the High Court had turned out to be a people’s movement with almost everyone, including college and school students, getting themselves involved in eradicating the invasive species to augment the groundwater table. “Students of Eenjavayal Panchayat Union Primary School in Sivaganga district uprooted 14,054 plants in just two days in a competition between 120 schools, he said.
Advocate Commissioner R. Karunanidhi said the movement would be strengthened if the State enacted a law against the invasive species as directed by the High Court on February 27. “We were told that a high level meeting was held in Chennai with respect to implementing the direction. It would be great if the law comes into force soon,” he added.
