the story So Far: Madras High Court issues a set of 34 directions on March 18, 2026 Eradication of alien and invasive species prosopis juliflora (Seemai Karuvelam in Tamil) from Tamil Nadu. One of those instructions states that all private landowners will have to uproot those plants from their properties within 30 days, failing which the concerned district administration will uproot them and recover the cost from the land owners.
The court also clarified that if property owners express their desire to plant native saplings, they should be given saplings of their choice free of cost. The latest set of directions has been issued after a series of orders passed by the court over the past 12 years failed to achieve the desired outcome of completely eradicating the invasive species.
Why is Prosopis juliflora considered harmful?
The special bench of Justice N. Satish Kumar and Justice D. Bharat Chakraborty, constituted to hear environment and forest related cases, has answered this question in its latest order. It states that this species originated in South American countries and was brought to other continents to be used as firewood in the early days of colonization. “Though, initially, it was intended to provide firewood to individuals and also to serve as industrial fuel besides being used in brick kilns and charcoal industry, it has proved to be a disaster for our environment and ecology,” the judges said.
The court said, Prosopis juliflora had destroyed the moss and spongy earth of fertile land, meadows and forests and the land beneath these trees had been transformed into barren land. Secondly, alien species had displaced native vegetation. “The variety of Indian trees and plants has given way to this fittest survivor and now enjoys a monopoly,” the order said. It also says that the growth of invasive species has resulted in depletion of groundwater levels and reduced moisture levels in areas where it can be found in abundance.
When did the court start taking strict action?
On January 9, 2014, Justice R. A division bench of Sudhakar and VM Velumani (both now retired) had ordered his removal from the post. prosopis juliflora from all rivers and water bodies of the state “for the well-being of the farmers as well as the people of the country.” When the order was not complied with and a contempt petition of court was filed, the same bench on August 6, 2015, directed the state government to make a plan for the eradication of the invasive species “which is creating a major environmental problem.”
Subsequently, former Madurai mayor M. Patturajan (since deceased) filed a public interest litigation (PIL) against it. prosopis juliflora And he was followed by Vaiko, general secretary of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK). Passing a series of orders in both these cases since 2015, the high court had sought expert reports from bodies such as the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), which had confirmed the harmful nature of invasive species.
In 2016 and 2017, Justice A. The division bench of Justices Selvam and P. Kalaiyarasan (both retired) began conducting personal inspections in the southern districts, pulled up the collectors concerned for not uprooting trees, directed district judges to monitor the eradication work and appointed a large number of advocate commissioners to all the districts to take stock of the progress. However, in April 2017, both cases were referred to a full bench (comprising three judges).
Three separate full benches headed by former Chief Justice Indira Banerjee, AP Sahi and Munishwar Nath Bhandari were also convinced of its harmful impact. prosopis juliflora And on February 2, 2022, a direction was issued to the state government to prepare a plan for the eradication of invasive species under the supervision of district collectors.
Only after this directive, the Government of Tamil Nadu came out with the Tamil Nadu Policy on Invasive Plants and Ecological Restoration (TNPIPER) on July 13, 2022. Subsequently, the PILs were ordered to be listed before the Special Division Bench for monitoring.
Who stopped the implementation of the orders?
Ever since the cases were listed before the special division bench of Justices Kumar and Chakraborty in September 2022, the judges started pushing the government to speed up the decriminalization process and declare at least one district in the state free. prosopis juliflora. When this did not happen, he insisted that at least two villages be declared prosopis juliflora Free every month. Ultimately the judges found that none of the targets could be achieved because the lands on which the invasive species grew belonged to various entities such as local bodies, forest department, public works department, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, railways, private individuals and there was a lack of coordination.
Observing that the efforts made by the court for over a decade had not yielded the desired results, the judges wrote: “In this case, 11 years have passed since the issue was raised by this court, and no significant progress has been made. Only two options are now available to this bench. First, to initiate contempt proceedings against the respondents. If contempt proceedings are invoked, it would only result in penalizing all the respondents, and that, in itself, However, it is a huge task to accomplish if there is a will to remove the invasive species. Therefore, we have no option but to adopt alternative options, to issue further instructions and ensure compliance with the orders of this Court.
with the help of judges friend friend T. Mohan, Chevanan Mohan, Rahul Balaji and M. Santhanaraman came up with a set of 34 new instructions, which contemplated the involvement of student volunteers and monitoring of the eradication work by two retired High Court judges V. Bharathidasan for the northern districts and Mr. Selvam for the southern districts.
How is the new set of guidelines different from previous orders?
The latest order of the court directs the Tamil Nadu government to name the project of eradication prosopis juliflora And it has been included as ‘Sezhumai Karuvulam’ in place of native species and said that it can be implemented without any major financial burden on the state.
Since invasive species can be used as industrial fuel, the government can auction the uprooting work to private entities, collect the necessary fees and keep it in a separate account so that the money can be used for planting and nurturing native species. Collectors were ordered to act as nodal officers between all government departments and the Environment Secretary was directed to create a webpage and maintain a dashboard about the work done.
Government officials were also directed to receive complaints from the public through a dedicated phone number and through social media apps. prosopis juliflora Go to their area and take action to uproot them. “As far as possible, the activities will be carried out like a search operation, with villages being declared from firkas to talukas and finally to districts. prosopis juliflora Free,” the bench ordered.
Saying that native species should be planted within 30 days of uprooting invasive species, the judges ordered documentation of those native species under the heading ‘Sezhumai Karuvula Arasithaz’, which would be maintained through district tree committees. “They may take the services of volunteers, including students and green enthusiasts, for this purpose. The goal is to maintain the data with passion and not just for compliance. At the end of the third year, if the native plants have grown, the district-wise records will be compiled and published as electronic PDF on the website,” the order said.
exceptional cases
Further, taking into account the potential loss of bird habitat, the court said: “In exceptional areas like Vedanthangal (bird sanctuary), where prosopis juliflora Acts as a nesting site for birds, the removal will be done in a phased manner along with alternative arrangements such as planting of other species.
making it clear that uprooting prosopis juliflora This should be completed before the commencement of the next monsoon season, the judges decided to keep the PILs pending and pass further orders from time to time.
published – March 20, 2026 04:44 PM IST
