Kalyan MP Shrikant Shinde urges 5-year jail for those who harm trees

In the past few years the state government have planted 19 crore trees across Maharashtra through various plantation drives. But there have been instances where these trees were destroyed or damaged at several places by anti-social elements. To prohibit such activities, Kalyan MP Shrikant Shinde has tabled a private member bill in Loksabha. In this bill he has demanded five months to five years imprisonment to those who harm trees.

“To combat rising levels of pollution, the government has undertaken massive tree plantation drives. But there is no legal provision to ensure that the offenders are punished and these trees are taken care of,” said Shinde. As per the Paris climate change agreement of the UN in 2015, India agreed to do reforestation on 33 per cent of land. “But as per the report the forest cover in India has grown only by 0.21 per cent between 2015-2017,” says Shinde. For instance, On July 6, 2017 Shinde organised a massive tree plantation drive in Mangrool village of Ambernath, where 20,000 people came together and planted 1 lakh trees in a day. He ensured that these trees were watered and provided for a borewell, water tank and pipeline. However, in November 2018, these trees were set on fire in two separate incidents by miscreants. The fire damaged 50 per cent of these trees.

“Miscreants should be punished with six months to five years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000 to Rs 5 lakh. Moreover, even man-made jungles should be covered under Indian forest act, 1980. Central government’s permission should be made mandatory before taking up projects on jungles,” he said.