Ambernath

Aarey Colony

Member of Parliament

Aaditya Thackeray

Public Works Department minister Eknath Shinde

forest fire

Five months after one lakh saplings were planted on a hillock near, a fire on Tuesday night swept through the green cover.Even as scores of Mumbaikars are opposing the felling of trees atand other parts of the city where infrastructure-related construction is on, 20,000 trees were quietly set on fire, allegedly by land-grabbers, at Mangrul, on the outskirts of Ambernath, late on Tuesday.The trees were planted only five months ago, during a plantation drive launched by Shrikant Shinde, thefrom Kalyan. The drive, inaugurated byin July, saw one lakh sapling being planted on a hillock which the state Forest Department had allotted to create a green cover.Shinde, son of, said he came to know about the fire only on Wednesday. A “devastated” Shinde said there was no question of the fire being caused by natural causes as the weather was mild, and grass along the hillock was trimmed at the time of planting the saplings.“This fire is the work of someone who has an interest in the land where trees were planted. We surveyed the damage and it became obvious that this was not a normal. It could have been caused by land-grabber or those wanting to encroach the hillock,” Shinde said, adding he will launch another drive to replace the lost trees.At the time of going to press, the police had filed a first information report under Indian Penal Code Sections 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of Rs 50 or more) and 435 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to cause damage to amount of Rs 100, or Rs 10 in case of agricultural produce).Deputy Commissioner of Police (Ulhasnagar) Ankit Goyal said the police were trying to locate eyewitnesses. “The Forest Department officials will help in investigation,” he said.Deputy Conservator of Forest (Thane territorial range) Jitendra Ramgaokar said the fire swept through an eight-hectare area. “This is not the season of forest fires, and appears to be a deliberate attempt to destroy the green cover. Strong winds spread the fire further,” he said.