Gurugram: District specific plans for Aravallis restoration soon

The officials said that the plan was discussed during a meeting held on December 6. It was chaired by P Raghavendra Rao, chairman, Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) and attended by members of Aravalli Bachao, independent ecological and wildlife experts, they said.

According to officials who are aware of the deliberations the HSPCB chairman asked the experts to help the forest and mining officers of the seven Aravalli districts — Gurugram, Faridabad, Nuh, Mahendragarh, Rewari, Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri — to prepare district level plans for the protection and restoration of the ecologically sensitive zone.

In several ground reports HT has extensively reported about how illegal mining, dumping of waste and illegal encroachments are threatening the biodiversity rich Aravallis.

In May, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) pulled up the Haryana government over “negligence and inaction” in restoring the Aravallis that has been lost to illegal mining, and directed the pollution board to submit an action plan within three months to utilise environmental compensation cess (ECC) — a corpus of nearly ₹25 crore — for the same. It also noted that steps hadn’t been taken due to “incompetence, lack of training and corruption”.

Rao said a detailed district-wise draft Aravalli Rejuvenation Plans will be prepared after discussions with various experts and district forest officers. “We have called a meeting in Gurugram on December 16 to finalise the plan which will then be placed before NGT and the state government. We will apprise the tribunal in the next hearing in the case scheduled to be held in January,” he said.

Neelam Ahluwalia, managing trustee, Aravalli Bachao Citizens Movement, said that the vision of the ecological restoration plan for Haryana Aravallis suggested to recreate the lost natural heritage of the mountain range by restoring the dead, extinct and highly degraded ecosystems. “Bringing them back to their natural state is the our objective so that they contribute to the environmental sustainability of Haryana by rendering a wide range of ecological services. The experts have given their inputs to finalise the guidelines which would help in preparation of a comprehensive ecological restoration plan for all Aravalli districts of Haryana,” she said.

Vijay Dhasmana, rewilder and eco restoration practitioner, said that they have stated in the guidelines document, that they have shared with the government, that based on the examples available, such ecological restoration work would require a minimum 20 years plan for making the targeted sites self-sustainable in the long run. “An ecological restoration plan needs groundwork on reference sites selection, baseline mapping of biodiversity and threat assessment. Once that is done, ecological restoration plans can be made. If the process lacks rigorous efforts by the government, restoration plans will only be reduced to some plantation and civil work activities,” he said.

Experts added that it is also crucial for the Haryana government to decide on a proper system of governance and management for the long-term implementation, monitoring and sustenance of the restored areas.