Modi govt slammed for cutting of 1 crore trees in 5 years

New Delhi, Jul 27: The Congress on Saturday attacked the government for allowing cutting of over 1 crore trees for development projects since 2014 as the party wondered if the "BJP is destroying our future".

"Trees are 'life'. Tress are 'oxygen'. Tress absorb 'carbon dioxide'. Trees protect 'environment'. Modi Govt has cut a whopping 1,09,75,844 trees in the past 5 years! (Parliamentary Reply)," Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter.

He also posted the Environment Ministry's reply in the Lok Sabha that it permitted cutting of over 1 crore trees in the last five years for development work.

"Is BJP destroying our future?" he asked.

पेड़ जीवन है।
पेड़ ऑक्सीजन देते हैं।
पेड़ कार्बन डाइऑक्साइड सोखते है।
पेड़ पर्यावरण के रक्षक हैं।

मोदी सरकार ने 5 साल में 1,09,75,844 पेड़ काट डाले।(संसदीय जबाब )

क्या मोदी सरकार भविष्य से खिलवाड़ कर रही है? pic.twitter.com/OLWpnfsccy

— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) July 27, 2019

Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha on Friday, Minister of State for Environment Babul Supriyo said the ministry gave permission to cut 1.09 crore trees for development purposes between 2014 and 2019.

Out of the total, the highest number of trees (26.91 lakh) were cut in 2018-19, he said. Supriyo said data on trees destroyed in forest fires is not maintained by his ministry.