Panchayat move to destroy trees
: Ignoring the state finance minister's suggestion to increase state forest coverage to 33 per cent from the existing 27 per cent earlier this month, a CPI-M-run Bural gram panchayat in Sabang block in Midnapore West has aimed to increase their revenue by felling trees reared by a group of tree-huggers. Mr Asim Dasgupta, the state finance minister, had made this suggestion while discussing the environmental impact of degrading trees at a function in Kolkata.