By NE NOW NEWS
Guwahati: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray accused the Centre led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state governments, on World Environment Day on June 5, of ignoring environmental protection in the name of development, warning that it is harming public health, agriculture and the economy.
Posting on X, he said close to 1,73,984 hectares of forest area has been repurposed over the last 11 years for mining activities, road construction and other development projects.
He alleged that these changes were largely driven to favour a particular corporate group, naming the Adani Group.
According to Thackeray, although the Prime Minister speaks about climate issues in the “Mann Ki Baat” programme, actual policies are shaped to benefit a limited set of industrial interests, even at the expense of forests and the environment.
To underline the scale of diversion, he noted that 1.73 lakh hectares equals nearly 1,730 square kilometres, around 16 times the size of Mumbai’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park, which he called essential for maintaining ecological balance in the Mumbai region.
Separately, he criticised World Environment Day campaigns, saying plantation drives are often used for publicity rather than producing meaningful environmental results.
He claimed that while large-scale tree planting events are widely promoted on social media, a majority of saplings fail to survive and official success claims are rarely verified.
Thackeray urged both citizens and policymakers to reflect more seriously on environmental damage and the long-term risks linked to climate change.
Citing global studies, he said heat-related losses have reached nearly $159 billion this year, while about 160 billion working hours are lost annually due to rising temperatures. He also pointed to estimates suggesting a possible 2.5% to 4.5% reduction in India’s GDP due to climate impacts.
He stressed that climate change is no longer limited to environmental debate but is now closely tied to economic stability, public health and livelihoods.
He further said that daily life has become increasingly difficult, with monsoon flooding affecting cities, excessive rainfall damaging rural areas, and extreme heat impacting both urban and rural regions for most of the year.
Clarifying his stance, Thackeray said he is not against infrastructure growth but questioned whether current development patterns are environmentally sustainable.
He pointed out that farmers face crop losses due to heavy rain while cities suffer from waterlogging and transport disruptions, yet such outcomes are still being labelled as progress.
He also linked environmental decline to reduced quality of life in urban areas, saying loss of trees, parks, hills and rivers has left fewer open spaces for younger generations.
According to him, shrinking natural surroundings have pushed many young people toward social media as outdoor engagement becomes limited.
Appealing to the youth, he urged them to demand greener and more liveable cities in line with global standards.
He concluded that environmental protection is no longer a niche concern, but one directly connected to health, agriculture, the economy and the future, raising the question of what kind of Maharashtra should be left for coming generations.