The Madras High Court Bench here on Tuesday directed Collectors of all 13 districts under its jurisdiction to weed out ‘seemai karuvelam’ (prosopis juliflora ) trees from water bodies, river courses and all other places.
The order was passed on a public interest litigation petition filed by Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko.
Report sought
A Division Bench of Justices A. Selvam and P. Kalaiyarasan ordered that the trees be removed by January 10 and individual reports filed before the court on January 11.
The judges made it clear that the trees, harmful to the environment, should be removed with the assistance of the local bodies, Public Works Department and other government bodies.
In his petition pending since last year, Mr. Vaiko also sought a direction to officials to prevent the growth of the species, besides undertaking remedial measures to undo the damage caused by the trees. He claimed that the trees turn the land dry by sucking groundwater and poisoning it.
“The trees were first introduced in the country in 1960. They were brought from Africa to be used as fuelwood and now they have grown in huge numbers in the southern parts of the State. The trees destroy other plants and crops.
They are detrimental to agriculture and it has been scientifically proven that it turns the soil toxic and makes it unfit for cultivation,” he claimed.
Pointing out that the High Court Bench had already issued a direction to the State on January 9, 2014 to remove the ‘seemai karuvelam’ trees on a war footing, he said: “Even after the court direction, the authorities did not take any effective steps to remove the trees.”
