Kiran Choudhry, Leader of the Haryana Congress Legislature Party, has asked the BJP Government, led by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, to first protect the existing forest cover in the state by stopping wanton pulling down of trees, especially in the Aravallis, by capricious elements before asking for more funds from the Centre to plant new ones.In a statement issued here today, the former excise and taxation minister took umbrage at the decision of the BJP Government to request the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, to remove the existing cap of 10 per cent on withdrawal of more funds from the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) and allow expenditure on plantation of trees and forest management activities.Contesting the decision taken at a meeting of CAMPA governing body chaired by the Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal Khattar, yesterday, Mrs Choudhry asked, “Why ask for and spend more money on plantation of new trees when you can’t protect the existing ones from felling by vested interests in cohorts with the ruling class and the conniving bureaucracy? Had the government protected the existing tress, the forest cover would not have come down to a new low of 6.65 per cent which should be 20 per cent as mandated by the National Forest Policy,” she added.Mrs Choudhry reiterated her demand for an inquiry into the recent felling of 500 trees on two-acre land in the protected Mangar Bani area to expose and nail those responsible and make them face the law. There have been several such instances of illegal tree felling which have not been probed, she added.