HC summons forest secy on Feb 27 over upkeep fund delay

Chennai: Madras high court directed state 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 forests after removal of the invasive species. In fact, we directed the amount generated from the removal of the invasive species to be kept in a separate account and to be released periodically. The maintenance work must be done periodically, so that complete removal of the species 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 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 regularly, the invasive species will grow again.""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.