State forest dept asks civic chiefs to act on Bharat Van campaign

Nagpur: Following directives from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the state forest department has instructed the civic chiefs to take action in the ongoing Save Bharat Van campaign.
About three months back, TOI had filed a note with the PMO highlighting that the proposed road in Bharat Nagar threatens to exterminate not just 200 age-old trees but a rich biodiversity habitat which is home to hundreds of birds and animal species.
Taking note of the complaint, PMO had forwarded it to the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC). The under secretary to the government of India then forwarded the matter to the state secretary of revenue and forest department.
In a recent letter written to the commissioner of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and chairman of Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT), deputy conservator of forests (forest conservation) SD Wadhai has directed both the civic chiefs to “take appropriate action” in the matter and submit a response regarding the same to the Union environment ministry.
The proposed road is in the city’s development plan of 2000. In its complaint, TOI had further stated that the decision of constructing the road taken by the local authorities is at odds with the international commitments made by the country in the Paris Agreement.
Meanwhile, city’s greens are putting all efforts to keep the public movement alive. On Sunday, an Ayurvedic exploration hunt to identify and learn about medicinal plants at Bharat Van will be held at 7am.
Based on a letter written by Nagpur’s honorary wildlife warden Jaydeep Das, the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court took suo motu cognisance of the case. The court has stayed felling trees in the mini-forest and the greens are awaiting next hearing.
Apart from this, over 1,500 letters objecting the project have been filed with the NMC garden department. Activists and citizens are strongly demanding a public hearing in the case.