To save Aravallis, Gurugram residents register their protest in a unique way

Gurugram: Hundreds of residents from the posh condominium societies of the city on Sunday descended on the streets to register their protest on the protection of Aravallis around Gurugram.

The protestors expressed their dissent over the state government's move to remove a sizeable area of Aravallis from the protective zone.

The protestors intentionally named their protest as "Aravallis ka jannaaza"(The death of Aravallis). To lend more credence to their agitation, most of the protestors also wore white clothes during the agitation.

The residents again brought to light that the amendments to Punjab Land and Preservation Act (PLPA) will lead to a spurt in the felling of lakhs of trees and illegal constructions in the green belt of Aravallis.

It is important to note that to remove a sizeable portion of the forest area from the Punjab Land and Preservation Act (PLPA), the Haryana government had passed the Bill in 2019. The government however was not able to implement the act as the Supreme Court stayed the order.

The reason, why activists continue to fear over the prospect of Arvallis, is because of the 89,526 hectares of forest area in Haryana, 33 percent of Aravallis comes under PLPA.

Moreover, the activists claim that the government has added provisions which would allow the strong builder lobby and other vested interests to ransack the forest and over 30,000 acres of forest area also run the risk of being destroyed completely.

According to the environmentalist, if the amended bill is passed then there will be a blanket exclusion of Aravallis around the urban areas.

As most of the development of Gurugram and even Faridabad has taken on the land around the Aravallis, the forests that were protected for a a long time would not be safe anymore, claim activists. Moreover, the the bill passed by the Government is the retrospective effect of 1966.