Residents of East Tambaram and Irumbuliyur have requested the Water Resources Department to have Nalla Eri cleared of seemai karuvelam (prosopsis juliflora). They have expressed concern that despite the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court issuing orders to the State government to file a compliance report on the orders to remove these invasive trees from waterbodies in all the districts of the State, no action has been taken.
“The trees, which suck a lot of water, have invaded waterbodies and pose a threat to agriculture and environment. Groundwater table will get depleted if steps are not taken to weed out the trees,” A. Kumar, an environmental activist, said.
Nalla Eri on MES Road is overgrown with seemaikaruvelam trees. “The trees should be cut to improve the groundwater table, which has almost depleted due to failure on the part of the authorities concerned to de-silt and deepen it. The trees pose a major threat to water conservation,” R. Isaac, a resident of East Tambaram, said.
A native species of West Africa, seemai Karuvalam was introduced in Tamil Nadu in the 1960s as fuel wood. The trees are drought-resistant and would survive even without water for several months together. “The harsh part is that no other species could grow in places where karuvelam exists,” environmental activists said.
WRD officials said extra time is needed for complete eradication of the trees in the waterbodies.
