The Madras High Court on Thursday expressed displeasure over the let down in the drive against plastics in the Nilgiris district especially during the summer tourist season and directed the district administration to crack down on shops selling one-time use plastic water bottles as well as tourists carrying such bottles to the hill station.
Justices N. Sathish Kumar and D. Bharatha Chakravarthy ordered that every vehicle entering the district through multiple routes must be checked at the entry points and the plastic products must be seized. They also directed the district administration to repair all water dispensers that were not in a working condition.
Justice Kumar said, he was appalled to witness poor implementation of the ban on plastics in the hill station during his visit last month and said one-time use plastic water bottles could be spotted at almost every other shop and in the hands of tourists too. Namesake raids would not help in making the district plastic free, he said.
The Division Bench led by him directed the Nilgiris Collector to file a status report by July 5 listing out the names of the employees posted in the plastic collection points en route to the hill station, the quantity of plastics seized from the tourists and whether all the motor vehicles were being checked without fail.
Accepting a representation made by advocate T.V. Suresh Kumar, the judges also directed the district administration to take steps for recycling huge quantity of plastics that had been dumped in Masinagudi. “Implementation of the ban on plastics is very poor in the district. I saw it for myself,” the senior judge in the Bench said.
The judges also recorded the submission of Theni Collector that the plastic ban had been implemented in Meghamalai too and that frisking points had been established to seize one time use plastics from the tourists.
INVASIVE SPECIES
Dealing with yet another case related to removal of invasive species, the judges recorded the submission of the forest department as well as Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited (TNPL) that the process of removing senna spectabilis has been taking place on a rapid pace in Mudumualai and Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserves.
However, when advocate Rahul Balaji, representing TNPL, represented that the company would be able to purchase wattle and blue gum only if the government sells them at the price of pulp wood and not at the price of timber, the judges directed the government to sell those two invasive species too at the price of pulp wood to the paper maker.
In so far as the removal of lantana camara was concerned, the judges took note that the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests-cum-Chief Wildlife Warden had framed a scheme on June 1 this year for their eradication from forest areas and expected the government to approve the scheme within the next four weeks.
The government was further directed to expedite the process of authorising the Collectors concerned to grant approval for removal of the invasive species from private estates. The Bench observed that there were complaints from many private estates regarding their applications pending with the Collectors for months together.
Acceding to a request made by amicus curiae M. Santhanaraman, the judges also directed the government to ensure that the proceeds from the sale of timber was maintained in a separate account in every district and used for further eradication as well as prevention of regrowth of the exotic and invasive species in the forest areas.
