PIL seeks state nod for med institute in Sindhudurg district

MUMBAI: A Ratnagiri-based lawyer had moved a public interest litigation (PIL) before the Bombay high court (HC) seeking directions to the state government to grant the necessary permissions for setting up the National Institute of Medicinal Plants at Dodamarg in Sindhudurg district. According to the PIL, though the institute has been approved by the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (Ayush), the state has not done anything in that regard.

According to the PIL filed by Vilas Sadashiv Patne through advocate Rakesh Bhatkar, the Konkan region has the most fertile land, which is conducive for the growth of medicinal plants, and a study conducted in 2012 had shown that there were 32 herbs growing in a radius of 30 kilometres of Sawantwadi area, and hence setting up the institute there was feasible.

The PIL added that though Sindhudurg collector had surveyed, identified and sent a positive report for setting up of the institute in the district, there was no response by the state. A letter from the Ayush ministry in October 2020 to the chief minister with regards to the same has not been responded to and hence the PIL has been filed.

According to the petitioner, the state had written a letter to the Ayush ministry to shift the institute to Jalgaon, but the proposal was rejected stating that the land there was not suitable for the project due to climatic/ edaphic factors. Patne alleged that the state now plans to move the institute to Latur district.

Seeking directions to the state government to grant requisite permissions, the PIL stated, “The located area is most appropriate for such an institute with a natural environment required for plantation and growth of medicinal plants. If it is not used, then there will be extinction of plants and species. Therefore, there is a dire necessity to set up medicinal plant institutions at the approved area in Sindhudurg.”

The PIL is likely to be heard by the bench led by chief justice Dipankar Datta on February 26.