A Bench, comprising Chief Justice B.N. Kirpal, Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice H.K. Sema, directed that ``felling of trees from the forest of little Andaman Islands, the national park and sanctuaries, the tribal reserves and all other areas shall stand suspended''.

``Andaman and Nicobar Islands is one of the hotspots and is in the eco-fragile area and has, therefore, the eco-diversity has to be preserved. For this it is essential that the natural forest is protected and re-generation allowed to take place,'' the Bench said. It also criticised the administration for not stopping the felling of trees by providing alternative employment to people by resorting to tree plantation. Referring to 40,000 cubic ft. of wood cut every year for saw mills, the Bench ordered ``no felling of trees shall be permitted for meeting any raw material requirements of the plywood, veneer, black wood, match stick or any other wood-based industry.''

``The ecology of the area does not permit any kind of industrial activity for which wood is likely to be consumed. Therefore, licences of wood-based industries shall stand cancelled but they will be permitted to exhaust the existing stock till March 31, 2003.'' This order was passed after the Bench accepted the recommendations of the Sekhar Singh Commission appointed by the Court in the intervention application, filed by the Society for Andaman Nicobar Ecology (SANE) supported by Environment Justice Initiative and the Human Rights Law Network.

While suggesting that the Centre relocate the wood-based industries elsewhere but not within the vicinity of forest area, the court said no fresh wood or logs should be given to any saw-mills or industries till fresh working plans were prepared and submitted for approval of the Supreme Court. — PTI