Retd judge conducts inspection of karuvelam trees at Uthangudi kanmai in Madurai

Madurai: Retired Madras high court judge Justice A Selvam, undertook an inspection at the Uthangudi kanmai on Wednesday afternoon in the Madurai East taluk to check the spread of seemai karuvelam (prosopis juliflora) trees.The inspection, held on the orders of the Madras high court, examined the extent of seemai karuvelam trees growing on waterbodies, non waterbody govt poramboke land parcels and privately owned patta land parcels, including the area cleared so far and the area that is yet to be cleared.The trees are drought-resistant, highly invasive species that utilises their deep roots to majorly deplete groundwater resources wherever they are found, prompting the court ordered removal at the kanmai.According to officials, removal of the trees is progressing slowly owing to the deep roots and durable nature of the treesMadurai district collector Nishanth Krishna, corporation commissioner Gaurav Kumar, were also present.