'People start making arrangements for a huge bonfire called 'holika dahan' or 'agja' days ahead of Holi, collecting wood by pruning big branches or felling small trees,' Guddu Baba added.
'There are over 200 places in Patna alone where bonafires will be to lit to mark the festival,' said Singh.
Rameshwar Prasad, 75, a retired government employee, recalled that till the 70s waste material was collected for the bonfires. 'We never pruned trees or cut them. Now the situation is different. People seem to enjoy cutting tress for the bonfire,' said Prasad.
However, forest officials are maintaining a complete silence despite the fact that the Bihar government has set an ambitious plan to increase the state's forest cover from the existing 6.07 percent to 35 percent, within a decade.
Forest officials admit that Bihar lost most of its green cover when the state of Jharkhand was carved out of it three years ago. Undivided Bihar had a forest cover of 17 percent.
From: http://www.indiaenews.com/india/20070303/41797.htm
