Sapkal Threatens Legal Action Over Tree Felling In Bhimashankar

Sapkal on Thursday inspected the felling of trees in the forests of Karjat-Bhimashankar area for the project and engaged with local villagers. In a symbolic gesture of protest, he also planted a tree sapling in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mother.

Sapkal said, “While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has championed the initiative ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ (A Tree in the Name of One’s Mother), here in Maharashtra, trees are being ruthlessly destroyed. Today, by planting trees in the forests of Karjat, we have fulfilled the Prime Minister’s own initiative.”

More than 32,000 trees are slated to be felled in the Bhimashankar-Karjat forest area for the proposed 3,000-MW hydroelectric power plant to be developed by Gujarat-based Torrent Power Ltd. However, the Rs 13,505 crore project has been met with fierce opposition from the environment activists and opposition parties with concerns being raised over ‘rampant’ cutting of trees and environmental damages in the ecologically sensitive Sahyadri mountain range.

Criticising the State Government, Sapkal said, “The BJP-led Mahayuti government has taken an axe to the rich forest wealth nestled in the Sahyadri mountain range - a region that holds the sacred legacy of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. In their greed to profit from corruption, they have effectively sold the Sahyadri to a company from Gujarat.”

“The people of Maharashtra will never tolerate the BJP-led government’s attempt to sell off this heritage. We will thwart every design of the BJP government and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis; if necessary, we will even approach the courts to protect the forest wealth of Karjat-Bhimashankar,” he added.

The Congress leader also claimed that the proposed hydro-power project is not in the interest of Maharashtra. “Claims that this project will generate thousands of jobs, or that millions of trees will be planted elsewhere to compensate for the ones being felled, are nothing but hollow promises. What happened to this same government’s earlier pledge to plant 33 crore trees? Not a single one of those trees has been seen.”

“The government claims this project is ‘state-of-the-art.’ If so, where will these thousands of jobs come from? In truth, no one trusts the words of the BJP government or Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. They are misleading the people of Maharashtra and propagating a false narrative,” he further stated.

Sapkal also mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the latter’s election tweet on Congress saying the PM’s office is a position of prestige and it does not befit the holder to engage in such pettiness.

“In the elections for five Vidhan Parishad seats, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) secured victories in Nagpur, Pune and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, dealing a crushing blow to the Mahayuti government. As the results were unfolding, the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister hastily posted tweets disparaging the Congress party - only to be forced to delete them once the final results were declared. The office of the Prime Minister is one of great prestige; such petty behavior is unbecoming of the position held by Narendra Modi,” he said.

Sapkal asserted that the election results mark the beginning of a change in Maharashtra.

“In Nagpur - the heartland of the RSS and the home city of both Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari - the ruling side has faced defeat for the tenth consecutive time. This outcome serves to humble the arrogance of those in power. Devendra Fadnavis had personally poured all his resources into the Nagpur election, yet he has suffered a humiliating defeat in his own stronghold,” he added.