As row over hacking trees for hydro project escalates, CM calls for SOP on localised afforestation

Actor and activist Sayaji Shinde addresses press conference, says government claims about compensatory afforestation are circumspect as past experience shows such plantations exist only on paper

Mumbai: The row over the state forest department’s clearance to hack more than 32,000 trees in Karjat to make way for a hydroelectric project intensified on Monday, with Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray visiting the area and demanding that the state government disclose alternative sites for the project, and actor and activist Sayaji Shinde addressing a press conference, urging people across Maharashtra to unite against projects that threaten the environment.

Sayaji Shinde addresses a press conference at the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh on Monday (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

Responding to concerns raised by protesters, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis stressed on the need for policy change to ensure that trees are planted in the same area or region where they are felled. He directed officials to prepare a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the same and maintain a district-wise record of land available for afforestation.

Under the existing afforestation policy, trees axed for development projects can be compensated for by planting trees in any other part of the state.

Addressing a meeting of the Maharashtra Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (Maha CAMPA), Fadnavis said that the method of verifying work undertaken by the authority should be changed and made more transparent. Some samples should be selected from completed afforestation projects and a survey must be conducted; concerned agencies should also pay serious attention to soil and water conservation, he said.

On Monday, when Aaditya Thackeray visited the area along with Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Sanjay Raut and Sushma Andhare, tree-cutting was entirely halted. Thackeray reiterated his opposition to tree-felling and demanded that the state government disclose alternative sites for the project proposed by Torrent Power and consider shifting the project to such a site.

“Industries generally suggest alternative sites while proposing a project. The government should make public the options submitted by Torrent Power. We are ready to discuss relocating the project but would not allow trees to be cut in the forest,” Thackeray said.

The Sena (UBT) leader clarified that he was neither opposed to development, nor had any dispute with Torrent Power, but only wanted to ensure that development benefitted local residents and did not lead to environmental destruction or displacement of tribal communities.

“Do we want Maharashtra to turn into a desert?” he asked, and accused those responsible for cutting forests, destroying the environment and displacing tribal people of acting against Maharashtra’s interests.

Actor and activist Sayaji Shinde also opposed the large-scale tree-felling in Karjat and urged the government and citizens to seriously consider the environmental consequences of development projects.

“The Sahyadri mountain is under threat and Maharashtra should stand against it,” he said while addressing a press conference. “The people of Maharashtra should unite against projects that threaten the environment and not allow even a single tree to be cut.”

The actor said that government claims about compensatory afforestation were circumspect as past experience showed such plantations existed only on paper. “Forests not only belong to us; they are also home to animals and birds. What will happen to them if trees are chopped away,” Shinde said.

He also appealed to people across Maharashtra to participate in protests on November 3 against tree-felling in Karjat.