Thane: Rs 50,00 reward for information on those who burned down trees

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The chief forest department officer, Thane, has announced a reward of Rs 50,000 to anyone with information on the person who set fire to and destroyed 70,000 trees in Kalyan. The officer has also requested people to come forward and help the department water the plants during the summer and winter.

A year ago, one lakh saplings had been planted on a hillock in Mangrul at Neville village near Kalyan to create a green cover. Last week, 70,000 of them were destroyed in a fire allegedly set by some land-grabbers.

An angry Kalyan MP Shrikant Shinde, who had launched the plantation drive at Neville village last July, sat in protest against the forest department at their Kopari office and was subsequently arrested along with his supporters. Deputy Conservator Forest Jitendra Ramgaokar said, "Aside from this reward, we have decided to hand out smaller rewards to anyone with information about those trying to destroy forest cover in the area."

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