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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Thackerays’ ‘Taandav’ for trees, tigers

AI generated image Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray launched a sharp attack on the government for the systematic degradation of the state’s environment under the garb of development, even as the climate change poses a direct threat to the environment, economy, agriculture, public health and the future of both rural and urban centres. Questioning the state government’s claims of having planted millions of trees, he rued how the World Environment Day has been...

Thackerays’ ‘Taandav’ for trees, tigers

AI generated image Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray launched a sharp attack on the government for the systematic degradation of the state’s environment under the garb of development, even as the climate change poses a direct threat to the environment, economy, agriculture, public health and the future of both rural and urban centres. Questioning the state government’s claims of having planted millions of trees, he rued how the World Environment Day has been reduced to an annual ritual of tree-planting drives and clicking selfies for social media, though 90 pc of the saplings don’t survive even a day. “Only the government knows where those trees really are,” said Raj sternly. He recalled a "Blueprint of Maharashtra’s Development" he had proposed in 2015, in which he advocated how development without environmental sensitivity is hollow. Justifying, he said that the consequences are visible where roads, bridges and infrastructure projects are hailed as achievements, but even a short spell of rainfall can paralyze entire cities. Referring to recent reports on farmers returning from the fields after 10 am due to the scorching heat, Raj said that the worsening climate crisis has become an everyday reality. Citing official statistics, Raj claimed that extreme heat has caused productivity losses of nearly USD 159 billion and slashing of 160 billion work-hours annually in recent years. He mentioned the World Bank estimates that India’s GDP could plummet by 2.5-4.5 pc while 57 pc of the country’s districts sheltering 76 pc of the population stare at serious climate-related crises. Taking a swipe, he said while the governments boast about growth figures and economical rankings, they are silent on the staggering costs of environmental destruction. He questioned the development model “whether flooded cities, washed-away crops and unbearable summers” genuinely indicate progress. Claiming that Maharashtra was increasingly becoming unliveable for upto 8 months in a year, he said excessive monsoon rains disrupt rural life and urban floods cripple cities, while extreme heat make normal life a torture in summers in both urban-rural areas. Targeting the Centre, Raj alleged that nearly 173,984 hectares of forest lands were diverted in the past 11 years for mining and infrastructure projects to benefit the PM’s single favourite Adani Group. He said that these lands amount to 1,730 sqkm, or equivalent to the area of 16 Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) that is spread over barely 104 sqkm. Dissolve state wildlife board: Aaditya Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray has accused the Maharashtra government for issuing a permit to carry out mining activity in the sensitive tiger corridor between the Tadoba-Andhari and Indravati sanctuaries housing the big striped cats. In a strongly-worded letter to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) Member-Secretary Sanjay Kumar, Thackeray sought his immediate personal intervention, sacking the Maharashtra State Board for Wild-Life (SBWL), revoking the permit, and probe against the Chief Wildlife Warden & Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) M. Srinivasa Reddy for the alleged lacunae. Aditya’s two-pager says the permit has been granted for “scientific exploration and excavation/systematic recovery of low-grade iron ore in existing mines in villages Hedri, Bande, Parsalgondi and Round Parsalgondi, in the Etapalli taluka of Gadchiroli district”. Last January, Aditya – MLA from Worli – had first raised the issue saying that the proposed mine would create only 120 jobs, including 32 permanent, and the estimated output is pegged at 1.1 million tons in a year. Referring to two letters of Reddy – on April 28 and May 21 – the SS (UBT) leader claimed that in communications to the state government, the PCCF had changed his stance on the issue. Aditya said that in the first letter, Reddy had effectively opposed the government plans for mining activity but in the second letter, he took a somersault, ostensibly due to government pressures or some commercial interests, “the U-turn is disgraceful and detrimental to India’s national interest” – and this abrupt shift in stance must be investigated thoroughly. In view of the contrary stance of the PCCF Reddy, entrusted with protecting the wildlife but failing to defend the NTCA and NBWL, point to serious malfunctioning of the SBWL, and hence it must be dissolved, besides reviewing all its decisions in the past three years, particularly those pertaining to hazardous activities in sensitive areas, demanded Aditya. 444 tigers roam in 11,000 sq.km As per the Status of Tiger Report (2002), and the Maharashtra Economic Survey 2025-2026, the state boasts of 444 tigers prowling in the wild along with other menacing creatures. The state’s total protected wildlife network of 88 Notified Areas of National Parks, Sanctuaries, and Conservation Reserves - including 6 dedicated to the striped big cats – is spread over 11,092 sq. kms as per current data.

Should You Prepay Your Home Loan?

For many families, a home loan is the biggest financial commitment of their lives. So, it is natural to think that the faster you repay it, the better it is. After all, becoming debt-free sounds emotionally satisfying and financially responsible.


But personal finance is not only about emotions. It is also about opportunity cost.


Cheap Money

A home loan is usually among the cheapest forms of borrowing available to an individual. In many cases, especially for younger borrowers with longer tenure loans, the interest rate tends to be in a moderate range and is often on a floating basis. In the long term, as the economy grows, interest rates eventually reduce. 


If your home loan is currently costing you around 7.5% to 9%, this rate of interest will eventually go down in the future. Importantly, your long-term investments can potentially grow at 10% to 15% if you build a good basket of stocks, mutual funds, and gold. Thus, aggressively prepaying the loan may not always be the smartest move. The money used to reduce a relatively low-cost loan could possibly work harder elsewhere - in equity mutual funds, hybrid funds, direct equities, and gold as part of a balanced portfolio.


The Mistake

This is where many people make mistakes. They become obsessed with closing the home loan quickly and end up diverting most of their surplus income towards prepayment. In the process, they ignore other equally important goals such as retirement, children’s education, children’s marriage, and vacations. Basically, a home is one financial goal, not the only financial goal.


So, should you prepay your home loan? Yes, you can. But do not overdo it.


Smarter Way

A practical way to handle this is to increase your loan repayment gradually rather than aggressively. For example, if your income rises by 10% this year, you may consider increasing your effective home loan outflow by a similar percentage. If your EMI is 20,000 and your salary rises from 1 lakh to 1.10 lakh per month, paying around 22,000 instead of 20,000 can be a sensible middle path. Similarly, if you receive a bonus, you may use a portion of it, perhaps one-third of it, for prepayment.


This method helps you reduce the burden gradually and in a staggered manner, while also creating wealth in parallel by increasing your monthly investments in other assets.


Dividing Income

A useful rule of thumb is to divide your income equally into three buckets - regular living expenses, loans and EMIs, and long-term investing for future goals. If too much of your money goes into home loan prepayment, your long-term wealth creation may suffer.


Remember, life will continue to demand money for many other important goals.


Compounding Work

So, do not chase home loan prepayment blindly. Build financial assets in parallel through smart investing, prepay moderately, and let compounding work in your favour.


(The author is a Chartered Accountant and CFA (USA). Financial Advisor. Views personal. He could be reached on 9833133605.)

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