HC vacates stay on GO issued for removal of invasive species in Kodai

Madurai: Madras high court on Thursday vacated the interim stay on the operation of the GO, which was issued for the removal of invasive and exotic species such as wattle and eucalyptus in Kodaikanal in Dindigul district.A division bench of justice N Sathish Kumar and justice M Jothiraman observed that the removal of invasive species in the forest area was undertaken only based on the earlier directions issued by the court. Several orders were passed, and the court also continuously monitored this issue. In view of the interim order, the entire process stopped. Hence, the judges vacated the interim order and directed the authorities to strictly monitor the process and carry out proper enumeration to ensure that no illegal felling of trees was done under the guise of the GO.The judges also directed the authorities to ensure that, wherever invasive species were removed, restoration work was undertaken by the officials. Taking into account that action was initiated against erring forest officials and a criminal case was registered, the judges observed that no further orders were necessary and disposed of a public interest litigation filed by G Theeran Thirumurugan alias Thirumurugan.The petitioner stated that a large number of trees, including shola species, in Mannavanur North and Kavunchi beats under Mannavanur range in Kodaikanal forest division were being felled and sold to timber merchants. On Dec 10, officials from the forest department who inspected the Mannavanur Road–Berijam Lake found that more than 1,200 trees were felled.Following an inquiry, four forest officials—Thiruniraiselvan (forest range officer), Amsaganapathi, Subash (foresters) and Venkatraman (forest guard)—were placed under suspension. Such a large number of felling of trees is an illegal act, and it was done in the reserve forest area. The estimated loss to the govt exchequer might be around 50 lakh.He stated the GO issued in 2025 does not permit felling of native shola species or trees in ecologically sensitive areas. Forest officials grossly misused the GO and destroyed the native shola forests, which are irreplaceable ecosystems. Mere suspension is inadequate, given the ecological damage and the breach of public trust. Hence, the petitioner moved court seeking to constitute a special investigation team probe into the illegal felling of trees and initiate stringent action against the forest officials involved.