Tributes paid to Bishnois who died protecting trees

Our Correspondent

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Abohar, August 30

Tributes were paid to environmentalist Amrita Devi Beniwal and 363 other members of the Bishnoi community, who had sacrificed their lives to prevent axing of Khejri trees in Rajasthan in 1730, here today.

At a function organised by the Akhil Bhartiya Bishnoi Yuva Sangathan and Punjabi Sabhyachar Manch jointly at Greenland School here, sangathan state president Gaurav Bishnoi and district president Rajiv Godara said the state government in June last year had approved a nature park-cum-memorial to be developed at Dhora Mehrajpur village near Abohar in the memory of Amrita Devi and other Bishnois.

The government had approved the layout plan, which include a statue of Amrita Devi, who laid down her life along with her three daughters in 1730 to save green trees from being cut by the Maharaja of Jodhpur at Khejarli in Marwar, Rajasthan.

Gaurav said the state government had sanctioned Rs 5.5 crore for the project. The construction was affected due to the Assembly elections. The state government should now get it completed on priority.