Mohite, who is the caretaker of a bungalow owned by the Tata group of companies in Mahabaleshwar, had recently hired private labour to clear an area admeasuring one acre around the bungalow. The work included felling of nearly 125 trees.

Ironically, Mohite is part of an expert committee constituted by the Bombay High Court to study the extent of environmental damage done to Mahabaleshwar by proliferating hotels and resorts.

According to sources, forest officer Subhasu Puranik rushed to the spot on receiving complaints of mass tree-felling and learnt from the workers that the trees were being cut following orders from Colonel Mohite. Puranik has served a show-cause notice to Mohite in this regard.

The BEAG, which has beenfighting against the violation of environmental laws all over Maharashtra, has drawn a great deal of flak, especially from hoteliers and resort owners, its favourite targets in Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani. But the involvement of one of its senior members in mass tree-felling has cast serious doubts on its functioning.

The BEAG has filed a series of litigations in various courts, including Bombay High Court, to stop the proliferation of hotels in Mahabaleshwar, which allegedly poses a threat to the environment. The BEAG has also been maintaining that increased tourism will lead to an imbalance in the eco-sensitive hills. The most widely publicised litigation filed by the BEAG has been a writ petition in HC against Sahara India for allegedly having committed irregularities in its multi-crore tourism project in Pune district.Both Debi Goenka and Shyam Chainani of the BEAG were out of Mumbai and unavailable for comment.