Aravali land cleared, fenced for farmhouses

GURUGRAM: A large patch of Aravali terrain has been cleared of trees, flattened, fenced off and turned
into walled compounds, some of which have hoardings of farmhouses.
Just a kilometre from Golf Course Road Extension, the around 35-acre area under khasra numbers L68/1
and L69 (plot numbers in rural areas) is part of the Aravali Plantation project, which gives it protection
under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. Chopping down trees and construction is illegal on land notified
under FCA.
Construction work was on when this correspondent visited the area this week – there were men carrying
bricks on dug up land, and there were tyre-tracks of earth-moving machines nearby
In December 2018, TOI had reported that an entire hillock had made way in Raisina village for sprawling
farmhouses.
Investigations were ordered subsequently, but the damage was irreversible.
Satellite imagery also showed that the hill, which was covered in forest till September 2017, had turned
barren with green patches and fenced off compounds by December 2022.
Residents of Behrampur village told TOI that dozens of trees have been felled in the area over the past year.

“This is village common land under the panchayat, but at present, people are giving power of attorney to
private players,” said a villager who wished to remain anonymous.

When asked, a senior official in the forest department said they will “investigate the matter”.
Wildlife researcher and activist Sunil Harsana said destroyed patches of hills were adding up to worrying
degradation of the Aravali ranges, which stand as the only barrier between the Thar desert and north India.
“Taken together, such activities are eroding the ecosystem of Aravalis,” he said.
Activists said continued violations underscore the need for an Aravali task force, an announcement made
by the government in 2016 but not effected till now.
“In Behrampur, the Aravalis has rocky quartzite hills and sandy dunes (locally called bhood) that are an
important source of groundwater recharge in Gurgaon. Forests are also an important wildlife habitat and
green lungs of the city. They deserve protection, and any attempts to privatise this land must be
challenged by the authorities,” said Chetan Agarwal, an independent analyst.

In 2004, the Supreme Court had ruled that 82,000 acres of Aravali land across six districts
of Haryana would be protected under FCA. In the years before, around 350 villages and their panchayats
had been roped in to carry out plantation drives on this land.