Chennai. A division bench of the Madras High Court, while hearing a petition by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department regarding the death of elephants in rail accidents, said it would personally inspect the Palakkad-Coimbatore corridor on April 9 and 10.
Elephants are killed by a moving train in Madhukarai area on Palakkad-Coimbatore corridor on a daily basis and there is a debate between the Forest Department and Southern Railway over this.
The Tamil Nadu Forest Department had filed a petition in the High Court in this matter, which was heard by a division bench of Justice V Bharathidasan and Justice N Satheeshkumar.
Recently, three elephants, including a small elephant, were killed after being hit by the Mangaluru-Chennai Express on the same railway track. For this reason, the forest department asked the railways to keep the speed of the train slow in this area.
The Railways opposed this saying that it cannot reduce the speed of the train, as slowing down of the train at the prescribed speed could lead to an accident at some other place.
After hearing the arguments of both the sides, the bench said that it will personally visit the spot and take stock of the situation.
The division bench also expressed deep anguish over the rampant use of plastic by the shopkeepers in Nilgiri district despite the order of the court.
The division bench directed the District Magistrate to take strict action against such shopkeepers. The District Magistrate told the court through video conferencing on Friday that the administration has arranged for fines for the use of plastic.
To this, the Bench said that such shopkeepers cannot be brought on the road with fine. He directed the District Magistrate to seal the shops selling plastic items.
The bench also directed the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited to ensure that liquor is not sold in plastic bottles in the Nilgiris district.
The High Court observed that the excessive use of plastic has tarnished the image of Tamil Nadu as a tourist destination. The bench called upon everyone to think about the environment and not use plastic items.
—AnyTV News
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