Omraje Nimbalkar joins protest against tree felling at Sai Dongar in Karjat for energy project

The felling of trees in the Sai Dongar area of Karjat tehsil in Raigad district has become a heated issue. Forest trees are being cut for a proposed energy project. Environmentalists and local residents have expressed anger over it.

Shiv Sainiks led by Shiv Sena (Thackeray faction) MLA Aaditya Thackeray visited the area and registered their protest. Shinde faction MP Omraje Nimbalkar has now also opposed the tree felling, bringing the issue back into discussion.

Mr Nimbalkar called the tree felling in the Bhimashankar area unfortunate and demanded that it be stopped immediately. He said a tree takes several decades to grow, and some species take hundreds of years. The loss of a forest, therefore, cannot easily be made good, he said.

He also suggested that if cutting trees for a project is unavoidable, 100 trees should be planted in place of each one, and responsibility for keeping them alive should also be fixed. Mr Nimbalkar said farmers are bearing the brunt of nature's changing conditions, and the government should take firm steps to protect the environment.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (Thackeray faction) leader Anil Parab targeted Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over the project. Mr Parab alleged that the government is damaging the forest for the benefit of certain industrial groups. These are Mr Parab's allegations and need separate verification.

More than 32,000 trees are said to be slated for felling for the project. Mr Parab claimed the actual loss would be far greater. The true extent of the felling, however, needs to be established from official figures.

Mr Parab said trees, rain and the environment are closely linked, so the issue of felling forests is not limited to a single area. Environmentalists fear that damage to the forest will affect biodiversity and the local environment.

All eyes are now on the government's stand on the project, how much tree felling has been permitted and what arrangements exist for replanting. The question of how the environment will be protected alongside development has come up once again.