Environmentalists questioned the mindless damage to trees.

"People have no right to cut or prune trees. Bonfires have never been a part of our age-old traditions," Patna-based Ashook Ghosh said.

Ghosh said Holika is a symbol of burning something, particularly waste materials, not green trees.

"It is high time people change their mindset to save the environment. Activists should create awareness among people."

Another green activist, Robert Athickal, who runs Tarumitra, a Patna-based body promoting healthy environment, said there was need to educate people not to target trees.

"We have been appealing to people not to cut or prune trees," he said.

Athickal said it was unfortunate that green trees had been badly damaged. Most of the destruction has taken place in Patna, Gaya and Muzaffarpur districts, he said.

"The trees can neither raise their voice nor seek justice. Our volunteers have been urging people to burn garbage instead of trees."

In a mockery of forest laws, activists say that people have been chopping off branches and felling trees, without being stopped by forest department and other officials.

"This happens every year ahead of Holi," complained Guddu Baba, who has been battling pollution in the Ganga river.

Added Vaidhnath Jha, an expert on Hindu scriptures: "There is virtually a race among people to collect wood for bonfires. People have no concern for trees and the impact their destruction causes.

"They want to fulfil rituals at the cost of harming the environment. There is no religious sanction for this."

In Patna alone, bonfires will be lit in over 1,000 places to mark the festival Thursday.

Arun Singh, a nature lover, said he and his friends watched helplessly people in Patna and its outskirts felling trees indiscriminately.

Till the 1970s, pointed out senior citizen Vijendra Madhav, garbage was collected for the bonfires.

"We never cut trees. Now the situation is different. People seem to enjoy cutting tress," Madhav lamented.

Activists say that it is sad that people cut trees although Patna has little green cover. The attack on nature will only lead to more pollution.

Forest officials say Bihar lost most of its green cover when Jharkhand was carved out of it three years ago. Undivided Bihar had a forest cover of 17 percent.

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