Plant twice the number, or pay up for new trees, Badlapur man told

Harchand Kurhade, main accused Dashrath's brother

The Badlapur man who cut down over 860 trees for his daughter's wedding has been asked to plant twice that number on the same land within the next four months or pay for the new trees.

mid-day had reported about accused Dasharath Kurhade's actions on June 3 in, 'Badlapur man hacks 860 trees for daughter's wedding'. The incident happened on Mhasa road near Badlapur, where forest officials claim Dashrath, who stays in a nearby pada, hacked the trees without taking any permission.

Range forest officer Ramesh Rasal said, "We called for a hearing on Monday. We have recorded the statement of Kurhade's family and asked them to plant double the number of trees on the same ground in the next four months. If they don't do so, they'll have to pay the forest department for getting those trees, after which we will plant them."

Harchand Kurhade, Dashrath's brother said, "It was my son's wedding and Dashrath's daughter's wedding. We are extremely poor. But, marriage is a tradition and this was happening in our family after 40 years. We didn't even have Rs 50,000 for the ceremonies. We were left with no other option than cutting the trees on our plot to manage funds for weddings. We didn't know it was not allowed. We've made a mistake and we will take the punishment. But we are very poor, don't ask us to pay money."

Forest department officials are appealing to some NGOs to help the Kurhades plant the trees.

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