Union Minister Nitin Gadkari also said that a person should be made to plant 10 trees for every tree cut by him or her
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari
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"I feel we should protect the environment and should touch the trees only when development of a project is stuck," Gadkari told mediapersons. Speaking on the Aarey issue, he said, "The government has given priority to tree plantation. Maharashtra has been allocated Rs 12,000 crore to Rs 13,000 crore from a fund." State Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar's plantation programme is the "biggest in the world", he affirmed. "The green cover has increased in Maharashtra. The talk of tree felling is being made because there is no alternative otherwise," the Union minister explained.
"The capital cost of a project is important and by opposing a project, don't make Mumbaikars pay for it," he justified. The capital cost of the Bandra-Worli sea link escalated to Rs 1,800 crore from the initial Rs 420 crore because of protests, he pointed out. "Punish a person by making him/her plant 10 trees for every tree cut," he said.
With inputs from PTI
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