Chennai: Nudged by the Madras high court, Tamil Nadu on Friday assured the court that it would release 81.78 crore in a day or two for the maintenance of forest areas where invasive species were removed.Additional chief secretary Supriya Sahu made the submission while appearing through video-conferencing before the special bench of Justice N Sathish Kumar and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy.On Feb 19, the bench pulled up the department for delaying the release of the funds and summoned the additional chief secretary to appear before the court and explain the delay. The court observed that the earlier orders to release the funds were passed keeping in mind the nature of maintenance required to restore the forests after removal of the invasive species. The maintenance work must be done periodically, then and there, so that complete removal of invasives is achieved, the bench noted. “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 will only be a failed attempt,” the court said.
