The Madras High Court on Friday directed the Forest Department to come up with a comprehensive plan to dispose of several lakh tonnes of trees that would get collected when it commences the pilot project to annihilate exotic and invasive species from 700 acres of forest land in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, Aanamalai Tiger Reserve, Kodaikanal and Dharmapuri districts.
A Division Bench of Justices V. Bharathidasan and N. Sathish Kumar asked Additional Advocate General J. Ravindran to ensure that the plan for disposal of the felled trees gets submitted to the State Wildlife Board chaired by the Chief Minister so that necessary approvals could be obtained for selling those trees either to private industries for being used as firewood or to the tribals for making furniture.
Earlier, the AAG informed the High Court of the Finance Secretary having agreed to sanction funds for commencing the pilot project and stated that the exotic and invasive species such as eucalyptus, wattle, lantana and prosopis juliflora would be removed from the 700 acres within a month after the sanction. After uprooting them, the department would plant indigenous species to restore the shola forests.
