Chennai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a batch of pleas moved by workers of Manjolai estate, Tirunelveli, seeking directions to the state govt to take over the plantation from Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation (BBTC) and continue running it.
A special bench of Justice N Sathish Kumar and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy also rejected the workers' request to allot them land on the plantation for organic tea cultivation. The judges also rejected a challenge to the VRS scheme as 535 of 536 workers had applied for it and 25% of the amount had been withdrawn by the workers.
Rejecting their claim to be treated as traditional forest dwellers, the court stated, "In the cases on hand, admittedly, none of the workmen primarily depend on the forest or forest land for their bona fide livelihood needs." They were actually employed by the BBTC to work on the tea plantations, and there existed an employee-employer relationship between those workers and the BBTC, the bench said.
"Firstly, this is a case of the pristine biosphere, the preservation of which is essential for the very existence of mankind on earth. The business is in the reserve forest, the core area of a tiger reserve, and, as such, has to come to an end dehors commercial or other considerations," the court said.
"…we are of the definite opinion that forest is a terrestrial ecosystem, where a community of plants and animals interact with one another and with the physical environment. They are natural renewable resources. Depending on the potential of climate and land area, all countries differ in their forest resources," the judges added.
The area in issue is a pristine forest area. It has rich biodiversity and must be preserved at least for future generations. It accommodates a river sanctuary. Fourteen rivers flow in the Agasthyamalai landscape. The area must be protected as it is, the court said.
The court then directed the state to provide appropriate rehabilitation aids to the workers to ensure alternative livelihood. MSID:: 115941805 413 |