Gurgaon: State promises probe report to NGT in two months

The state government will submit a report to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on concrete structures that have been built on gairmumkin pahar (deemed forest) areas with or without its permission, within two months.

The filing of the report assumes significance as the tribunal is holding hearings on a petition claiming that deemed forest areas in the Aravallis are being encroached upon and vegetation is being cleared for construction projects.

On January 24, during a hearing before the NGT, the state government submitted it was unaware of unauthorised construction activities in deemed forest areas of the Aravallis and will make enquiries and file a report on the same in two months.

The petitioner, Sonya Ghosh, had sought the tribunal’s intervention demanding that all construction activities be banned in the deemed forest areas of the state.

Gairmumkin Pahar areas in Haryana broadly come under three categories. These are Aravalli notification, Natural Conservation Zones (NCZs) and confirmed forest in the state. According to Forest Conservation Act,1980, no non-forest activity is allowed in these areas.

The state government said the issue raised in the petition pertains to the Aravalli Notification, issued on May 7, 1992.

According to state officials, before the notification came to be implemented, the deemed forest areas were privately owned properties.

Officials said that there had been some construction in these areas, with permission from the town and country planning department, before the notification was issued. However, they said there have also been some unauthorised construction in the forest areas as well.

A ground truthing exercise will be conducted over the next two months during which the Haryana State Pollution Control Board will demarcate all construction carried out in the deemed forest areas.

The NGT also asked the state to prepare and submit a report on all the non-forest activities in these areas before and after the notification was issued.

The next hearing, in this case, is on April 3. As per the law, the entire Aravalli hill range comes under the notification dated May 7, 1992. Also, an order by the Supreme Court stating that ‘Gairmumkin Pahar’ cannot be transferred to individuals, as it is common land and applies to the entire Aravalli region.

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