Hindu organisations join opposition to tree felling for Kumbh Mela

Nashik (Maharashtra), Dec 3 (PTI) Local Hindu organisations along with political parties have joined the protests against the planned tree felling in Tapovan area here for setting up a `Sadhu Gram' or settlement for religious leaders ahead of the next year's Kumbh Mela.

Activists of the Hindu Mahasabha recited the Hanuman Chalisa in Tapovan two days ago, while the supporters of some other Hindu organizations pasted posters with the slogan `Jai Shriram, Jai Hanuman' on the trees marked for removal by the Nashik Municipal Corporation.

Some of them also invoked the local belief that Lord Ram and Sita lived in Tapovan during their exile, and called for protecting the trees for the sake of religious sentiments.

School children staged demonstrations in Tapovan on Wednesday, carrying placards with pro-conservation messages.

Local leaders and workers of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also joined the agitation. AAP workers applied 'shendur' to the trees.

Civil society members are up in arms against the Nashik civic body's plan to cut down more than 1,700 trees in the Tapovan area ahead of the Kumbh Mela, which will begin in October 2026. PTI COR KRK