CHENNAI: Madras high court has directed Tamil Nadu forest secretary Supriya Sahu to be present before the court on Feb 27 to explain why funds were not released for the maintenance of forest areas where invasive species were removed.“We passed earlier orders in detail, keeping in mind the nature of maintenance required to restore the forests after removal of the invasive species. In fact, we directed the amount generated from the removal of the invasives to be kept in a separate account and to be released periodically for maintenance work. The maintenance work must be done periodically, then and there, so that complete removal of invasives is achieved,” a special bench of Justice N Sathish Kumar and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy said.The special bench was constituted to hear cases related to the conservation of forests in Tamil Nadu and environmental issues filed before both the principal bench of the court in Chennai and its bench at Madurai.On Thursday, when the pleas came up for hearing, the bench was informed that Rs 81.78 crore was to be released by the govt for invasive species removal work and maintenance, and a request in this regard was made by the principal chief conservator of forests. The matter was pending before the govt.To this, the bench said, “If the amount is not sanctioned for maintenance regularly, once again, the growth of invasives will be automatic, the real purpose will not be served, and the entire exercise undertaken by this Court for complete removal of invasive species will only be a failed attempt.”“Therefore, we are of the view that, unless the amount is released by the govt immediately, the very object of this exercise will be derailed. Therefore, the additional chief secretary shall be present before this court on the next date of hearing to address this issue,” the judges said.
