Stir in Nashik over chopping of 1700 trees to set up Sadhugram

Nashik citizens protest plans to cut 1,700 trees for Sadhugram accommodation for Kumbh Mela, with officials claiming only younger trees will be removed.

MUMBAI: Nashik’s citizens and activists have been strongly opposing local authorities’ plan to cut around 1700 trees to set up Sadhugram, a temporary accommodation for priests who will visit the town to attend the Simhastha Kumbh Mela in 2026-27.

Stir in Nashik over chopping of 1700 trees to set up Sadhugram

After the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) put up a notice recently expressing its intent, a Chipko andolan-like protest was organised on Wednesday with concerned citizens hugging trees. Roshan Kedar, a citizen posted a video of a heritage tree on Facebook, asking how during the last kumbh, similar accommodation was set up at the same venue without cutting trees.

State’s disaster management minister Girish Mahajan, who is in charge of the Kumbh Mela, said on Saturday that misinformation was being spread about tree cutting. “As a minister in-charge of the Kumbh Mela, I want to assure everyone that no heritage trees will be removed; only those below 10 years, if necessary will be cut.” Mahajan reiterated that 10 saplings would be planted for each tree cut.

Mahajan’s statement on Saturday was in juxtaposition to his earlier assertion that the “trees will have to be cut to build the Sadhugram to accommodate the sadhus who would be coming from not just India but overseas as well”.

NMC will conduct a hearing on Monday of the over 600 objections it has received in response to its notice to remove the 1700 trees.

The mela will be held at Nashik and Trimbakeshwar, and continue for 21 months, from October 2026 to July 2028. To prepare for it, the government has set up the Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Kumbh Mela Authority (NTKMA) to plan, coordinate and oversee the preparations, floating bids for infrastructure works of over ₹4,000 crore, with ₹2,000 crore earmarked for additional work. Setting up Sadhugram, a temporary accommodation on about 300 acres, is part of the plan, for which the NMC has decided to cut 1700 trees in the lush green Tapovan area near Godavari river in the city, which has incensed activists and locals.

Earlier, popular Marathi actor and NCP leader Sayaji Shinde, who planted hundreds of trees on hills and forts in western Maharashtra, had extended his support to the citizens and slammed the authorities for their decision to cut the trees. He had also criticised Mahajan saying, “How can a minister make an irresponsible statement that 10 trees would be planted for cutting one? The government should not test the patience of the people.”