Actor and activist Saiyami Kher has voiced her disappointment and anguish after witnessing the cutting down of a 200-year-old tree located just 500 metres away from her family home in Nashik.Taking to social media, Saiyami wrote, “Remember when we were kids and our teachers made us write essays on the importance of trees. We celebrated the Environment Day. Turns out that wasn’t part of the adult syllabus. So, let’s do one thing. All the adults who think cutting down 200-year-old trees is a good idea… why don’t we set up their offices on the exact spot where these trees were murdered? No cover. No air conditioning. Just a desk and a pleasant 50°C afternoon. The trees survived 200 summers. They couldn’t survive us.”Speaking about the incident, Saiyami says, “There were three old trees on the road to my house. So many people took shelter under it when it’s very hot or it rained. But they’re gone. Chopped off for development. What disturbs me even more is how normalised these decisions have become. We talk endlessly about climate change, rising temperatures, water shortages and deteriorating air quality, yet we continue to destroy the very ecosystems that help protect us from these problems.”Saiyami adds, “What frustrates me is that we have somehow convinced ourselves that development and environmental responsibility cannot coexist. Why is preserving a 200-year-old tree treated as an inconvenience rather than a priority? A tree that has stood for two centuries is not just wood and leaves. It carries history, biodiversity, and an ecological value that cannot be replaced by planting a sapling elsewhere and calling it compensation.”