'We Won't Allow Them To Be Felled': Students Rally Against Tree-Cutting Plan For Kumbh Mela

Nashik: Opposing the government’s decision to cut down 1,800 trees in the Tapovan area for the construction of Sadhugram during the upcoming Kumbh Mela, citizens from across Nashik gathered in Tapovan on Sunday.

Young students from the Mission Eklavya initiative of the Human Rights Enhancement Organization ( HREO ) also joined the protest. The students stated, “The trees standing in Tapovan today might have been planted by our grandparents and great-grandparents. We will not allow them to be felled. As our responsibility toward future generations, we are symbolically planting five banyan saplings in the Tapovan area. Being residents of Nilgiribagh–Tapovan, we will also take care of these saplings.”

On this occasion, saplings of the long-living banyan tree, which symbolises Nashik’s identity as Panchavati, were planted.

The event was attended by Mission Eklavya members Pooja Tupasumudre, Ajinkya Modak, Rani Jagadhane, Ramprakash Roy, Ayaan Khan, Atharva Patel, Sakshi Lokhande, Sarthak Panchal, and other students, along with Shyamala Chavan, Mukta Kawale, Shantaram Chavan, Dr Milind Wagh, Dinesh Bakre, Vasanti Dixit, and several activists.