Ramgarh villagers march 65 km to Raj Bhavan to protect trees

RAMGARH: More than 400 men and women who have been carrying out the ‘Chipko’ movement in a village for the last three months started their march to Raj Bhavan in Ranchi on Thursday in a bid to protect hundreds of trees from being cut down. The Burha-khap villagers from the Mandu block of Ramgarh district reached Ranchi on Friday, covering a distance of 65km on foot and said hundreds of trees and dense forests face the axe for the expansion project of a private factory.
The women have been agitating for the last three months under the aegis of the Burha-khap Sangharsh Samiti.They said the coal-based factory near their village has been causing pollution and now the company has an expansion plan on 22 acres of land dotted with trees and forest which forced them to start the agitation.
Social activist Sanjay Mehta, who joined the march to the Raj Bhavan, said the villagers started their foot march on Thursday. “We took shelter in the panchayat bhavan near Vikas (Neori) last (Thursday) night and reached near the Raj Bhavan on Friday with a message on the importance of conserving forests for maintaining ecological balance. We will try to meet governor C P Radhakrishnan with a request to stop deforestation,” Mehta said.
Sulekha Devi, a protestor said, the pollution in her village is harming the health and hygiene of the residents and now the expansion project would force people to move out of the village.
Md Javed Hussain, the sub-divisional officer (SDO) of Ramgarh, said the forest land for expansion of Alok Steel has been transferred in compliance with all conditions, including deforestation and “if we find something wrong, the administration, as well as the forest and environment department, would look into the issue”.