India, March 2 -- Five hundred and sixty-eight days. As of February 15, that is how long Kishna Ram Godara has spent in protest. The farmer of Naukha Daiya village in Bikaner district, Rajasthan, began this sit-in on July 18, 2024, at his field with one aim: to stop the felling of khejri trees for solar plants.

Godara has linked this demand and protest to his identity-after all, as he tells Down To Earth (DTE), the existence of his family and his village is connected to khejri trees.

Within Naukha Daiya village is Khejarla Rohi, a plot spanning 3,000 bigha (809 hectares or ha, 3.75 bigha is 1 ha) with some 15,000 khejri trees. In July 2024, this tree cover began to dwindle as ACME Solar, a renewable energy developer, set up a 300-megawa...