YERCAUD: Shevaroy Planters’ Association here has urged the Tamil Nadu Government to remove the Silver Oak trees from the provisions of the Timber Transit Rules 1968 so that the planters in Yercaud hills could be permitted to cut the mature and excess trees from their plantations and transport them.
A press release from its Chairman Vijayan Rajes claims that Silver Oak, being grown as shade trees in plantations, have to be thinned systematically from 1,000 trees to 120 trees per hectare.
It is not a forest tree and is planted as shade tree by planters themselves.
In the initial stage, young coffee plants need 1,000 trees for shade; while maturing they need only 120 per hectare. Hence the planters should be permitted to cut excess trees.
The Government, he says, placed Silver Oak in the schedule list of the Tamil Nadu Forest Act 1882 and Timber Transit Rules 1968 causing a lot of hardship to the planters.
It was subsequently modified by removing the tree from the Tamil Nadu Forest Act.
However it remains under the provisions of Timber Transit Rule.
“This has led to a situation where the planters are free to cut but unable to transport them,” he says.