Gurugram citizens demand protection of Aravallis

Gurugram: To make sure that their voice is represented by the leaders during the upcoming assembly elections, a group of around 40 residents of the city have drafted a charter of demands.

With a major focus on the protection of the Aravallis, the prominent resident groups have also highlighted other issues ranging from urban planning, environment, water and waste.

One of the demands made in the charter is repealing the Punjab Land Preservation (Haryana Amendment) Bill, which the Haryana government had passed in February this year, opening thousands of acres of land in the Aravalli range for real estate development and mining.

"The Aravallis is an important zone for groundwater recharge and its degradation is badly affecting the city's air quality. We want that declaring the Aravallis as deemed forest be an issue taken up this election. The Aravalli Biodiversity Park should also be declared a forest," said Chetan Agarwal, a city-based environmentalist.

The emphasis on the protection of Aravallis comes at a time when residents of villages around the forested area are forced to consume poisonous and polluted water. The sample of water collected from the villages of Baliawas and Bandhwari has shown high amounts of substances that can cause deadly diseases like cancer.

Earlier too, the water samples collected from the Bandhwari have shown a large number of substances that includes chlorides, nitrites manganese and calcium were way above than even the unhealthy levels.

It is important to note that with a landfill site spread around 30 acres in Bandhwari, large amounts of garbage are being dumped daily at the landfill site from Gurugram as well as Faridabad. Over 90 trucks come daily and dump the garbage.

A set of demands to tackle Gurugram's year-round air pollution includes setting up at least six air quality monitors in the city.