Chennai: Madras high court has censured the state govt officials, particularly at the secretary level, for adopting ‘delaying tactics’ in implementing the court order in connection with removal of Prosopis Juliflora (seemai karuvelam).To address the delay caused in releasing funds for removal of the invasive species, a division bench of Justice N Sathish Kumar and Justice K Rajasekar has directed the district collector to utilise the funds available under the mineral funds throughout the state for the removal drive.“It is brought to our notice that sufficient funds are available throughout the state under the mineral funds, which are under the control of the district collectors. The mineral funds have been created specifically for the restoration and rectification of the damage already caused to the ecology and environment,” the court said.As per the request of the court appointed commissioner Justice A Selvam for the purpose, the bench directed release of an initial amount of Rs 5 crore from the mineral fund of each district by the respective district collectors.“We make it clear that, if this direction also is not implemented and appropriate orders are not passed, we will have no other option except to initiate appropriate contempt proceedings against the officials concerned,” the bench said and adjourned the hearing to Sept 18.On Mar 18, the court ordered project ‘Sezhumai Karuvoolam,’ to eradicate seemai karuvelam from Tamil Nadu and appointed two former judges of the court, Justice A Selvam and Justice V Bharathidasan as a special committee to supervise the actions taken for the eradication.While removal of the species from public lands will be undertaken by the state, the court had directed ‘private landowners to uproot and remove the species from their respective lands within 30 days.’
