‘Defining Aravallis may reduce forest area in state’

GURGAON: Environmentalists have welcomed Haryana’ s move to notify a 500- metre no-construction zone around the Mangar Bani forest in Faridabad. But they are against the decision to redefine what constitutes the Aravallis.

The Aravallis, the oldest mountain range of the world, is the national capital region’s green lungs and crucial for its eco-system.

The decisions were taken in a recent meeting of the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB).

Members from the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEF), NCRPB and the Union ministry of urban development will soon define the Aravallis in Haryana.

Environmentalists have opposed the move, saying this will reduce Haryana’s forest cover, which is less than 4% of total area now.

Activists say the entire process is well planned to help the builder lobby. “How can the government and higher authorities suddenly be not clear about the Aravallis? A forest range is a geographical division, how can the government define it?” Vivek Kamboj, an environmentalist, said.

At a time when the groundwater table is falling at an alarming rate, it is shocking that government officials are busy planning to reduce the forest cover, they said.

Haryana’s forest cover is much less than the national average of 33%.

Though the NCRPB meeting was supposed to identify more areas that can be considered as forest so that the natural conservation zones (NCZs) can be defined, officials ended up forming a committee to define the Aravallis, environmentalists said.