Haryana govt may put 10,190 acres of Aravallis under NCZ
Gurugram: To prevent further degradation of the Aravallis, Haryana government is contemplating of putting 10,190 acres of the area under the natural conservation zone (NCZ).
Recently, a top-level meeting involving the deputy commissioner (DC) and officials of Department of town and country planning held a meeting and send their recommendations over the issue to the state government.
The government, after going through the report, will send their proposal to the union environment ministry. It is not going to be an easy task for the state government, however, to categorise this land under NCZ owing to its topography.
According to official sources, 6,172 acres of the land comes under gair mumkin pahadi ( reserve land of no utility).
Over 150 acres of this land has either been encroached upon by the builders who have made illegal colonies, people who have to build the farmhouses and the villagers who have used this land as gram panchayats. It is estimated that over 50 farmhouses have come up in the Gurugram, next to Aravallis. At present 29,431 acres of the forest area is classified under the natural conservation zone. Out of this 28,570 acres is a forest.
Owing to the lack of proper definition various public departments of Gurugram are embroiled in a host of litigation cases. The Gurugram Forest Division is involved in over 30 cases over the Aravallis.
Around one lakh hectare is the total area of Aravallis spreading over Gurugram, Mewat and Faridabad.
One of the oldest forest areas in the world could have proved to be the green lungs for the two largest and most populated cities in Haryana. Lack of delineation of forested area has resulted in the green belt area being encroached upon and exploited by illegal mining and builders.
At 25,000 acres just one-fourth of the total area comes under the area where the construction is prohibited under the Punjab Land Preservation Act which coincidentally was drafted during the British rule.
Over 62,000 acres comes under the green belt area, however, as it has not been defined under forest over the years the vast area of the land has been acquired under gram panchayats and other forms of human settlements.
Over 12,800 hectares have completely been encroached upon as the state government has still not been able to categorise this land under forested area.
The legal cases over Aravallis are being fought in the district courts of Gurugram, Punjab and Haryana high court, National Green Tribunal (NGT) and also in the Supreme Court. Owing to the rapid degradation the judiciary have now pronouncing tough judgement against the offender.
The Supreme Court has already taken strict cognisance of rapid degradation and exploitation of Aravallis in Rajasthan.
The situation of Aravallis in and around the district also does not seem to be bright with reports of exploitation of the green belt area, a fact that has also been admitted by the forest officials.
In September last year, the apex court has ordered that Kant Enclave a colony that was built in the green belt of Aravallis was illegal. Built in the year 1992 there were 33 families who had purchased plots from the builder.
