Nagpur residents form human chain to protest tree felling

Thousands of local residents and members of various organisationsWednesday formed a human chain at Futala Lake here to protest the proposed felling of more than 700 trees in a green belt.

Students of colleges and schools also took part in the protest against tree cutting in the Bharat Van area.

Bharat Van is a vast green cover located on a tract of land belonging to the Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth (PDKV) in the Bharat Nagar area, where construction of a road towards Futala Lake has been proposed.

A musical fountain and a viewer gallery at the lake is also part of the project.

The Futala lake beautification scheme is a dream project of Nagpur MP and Union minister Nitin Gadkari.

However, around 200 fully-grown trees and around 500 small ones are expected to be cut for the proposed road towards the lake.

Acting on a PIL, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has ordered a stay on the felling of trees for the road. The PIL will come up for further hearing ...