The State government on Friday urged the Madras High Court (HC) to modify its September 15 interim order against cutting of fully grown trees for the construction of a government medical college-cum-hospital in the Nilgiris district and permit felling of eucalyptus trees alone at the construction site.
Appearing before a Division Bench of Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and R. Hemalatha, Advocate-General Vijay Narayan said the government was racing against time as it intended to complete the construction of the hospital as early as possible to cater to the needs of the local population. He said the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests had granted permission under the Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 for felling eucalyptus trees. The Forest department had conducted an enumeration exercise to identify trees that had to be felled.
Mr. Narayan said the courts had been consistently impressing upon the need to promote shola forests in hill stations, such as Udhagamandalam and Kodaikanal, and discouraging the growth of exotic species, such as eucalyptus. It was all the more reason to permit the felling of eucalyptus trees, he said.
The judges agreed to pass orders on his request on Tuesday. The court also asked about the government’s plan to introduce an air ambulance in Udhagamandalam, so that patients in the hill station could be shifted quickly to private hospitals. Advocate Chevanan Mohan, a native of Udhagamandalam, told the court that Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami was to inaugurate the air ambulance early this year but it got delayed due to the pandemic. He said a full-fledged government hospital and an air ambulance were highly essential at the hill station to save lives.
The submissions were made during the hearing of a public interest litigation petition filed by advocate V. Ramesh who insisted that the government should also utilise the buildings of the now defunct Hindustan Photo Films Manufacturing Company for the establishment of the medical college-cum-hospital.
