Mumbai: 70 trees cut for road widening

Mumbai: Over 70 trees have already been felled on the road leading to Sevagram in Wardha, Maharashtra -- the ashram that Gandhi made his home after the Salt Satyagraha of 1930. In a letter to the district collector, concerned citizens and residents of the area have asked that the 5-km stretch of road leading to the ashram not be widened.

They have requested that any widening only occurs in the space that the trees will permit. About 170 more trees could face the axe. Local people, among them several teachers and doctors, agitated over the loss of tree cover, have formed a committee -- the Vriksh Bachao Samiti -- to protect the trees.

On the eve of Independence Day this year, the committee, in a letter to the district collector, appealed against the felling of more trees. It asked that those already felled be replanted. On Independence Day, a large group gathered and protested the felling of trees.

The road-widening is occurring in the mid-section of Wardha, very close to schools, colleges and residential areas. Widening this stretch would make for speedier traffic and increase the possibility of accidents, the committee said, appealing that the road widening plan be abandoned in public interest.