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Residual Aravalli forests at stake

Rampant concretisation, illegal mining, diminishing tree cover, lost indigenous flora and fauna, disappeared natural water bodies and rainwater reservoirs and now discontinuation of the no construction zone provision best describe the fate of residual Aravalli hills.

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Sumedha Sharma

Rampant concretisation, illegal mining, diminishing tree cover, lost indigenous flora and fauna, disappeared natural water bodies and rainwater reservoirs and now discontinuation of the no construction zone  provision best describe the fate of residual Aravalli hills. 

Forests covering 30,000 hectares across five districts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Mewat, Mahendragarh and Rewari in south Haryana are a pale shadow of their earlier spread. They have been declared the most ‘degraded’ forest range in India by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun. Ironical but true, while forests in Delhi and Rajasthan are thriving as they have been declared ‘reserved forests’ and made sanctuaries, in Haryana they are on the way to extinction. The recent amendment to the Punjab Land Protection Act (PLPA) was the proverbial last straw on the camel’s back. The Bill has opened to exploitation thousands of acres that were categorised as protected forest under the PLPA for almost 119 years. The amendment shall open the green cover primarily around Gurugram and Faridabad to real estate development for providing lakhs of dwelling units, commercial buildings, industrial units, public buildings, massive public infrastructure and for agriculture activities. 

According to the amendment, about one fourth (around 11,000 sq km) of the geographical area of the state is affected by the PLPA. The sale and purchase of such land and immovable properties covered under the PLPA are now liable to be declared legal. There is need to address such unintended consequences adversely impacting the livelihood of millions of citizens. While this may be a remedy for newer projects and those in limbo, it will surely deprive southern Haryana of its only green lungs. 

It was in early 19 century that the British government being well aware about the vulnerability of hill forests had introduced the Land Preservation Act to put up ecological safeguards. The state government of undivided Punjab continued to protect the hill forests. However, with the formation of Haryana the situation changed. Forests have never been the priority of the state government that chose to treat the development-environment relationship differently. Successive Haryana governments diluted the PLPA and kept most of the green cover outside the purview of the Forest Conservation Act 1980 by not defining what constitutes a forest. Today, the state has the lowest forest cover of 3.59 per cent in the country.

It all started in 1970s when the state government changed the common land ownership norms, leading to massive privatisation of Aravalli forests. It also made the state Revenue Department the lord of the largest part of the hills. While in other states the ‘forest common land’ belonging to a panchayat was transferred to the Forest Department, in Haryana village communities continued to own and manage the ‘forest common land’ in Aravalli hills. Private ownership of ‘forest common land’ was allowed in many villages, including Gwal Pahari, Bandhwari, Roj ka Gujjar, Mangar, Kot, Ankhir, Mewla-Maharajpur, Anangpur and Lakkarpur.

In 1992, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change issued the Aravalli notification, clearly stating that land categorized as ‘Gair mumkin pahar’ (uncultivable hill), ‘Gair mumkin rada’ (foothills, pastures), ‘Gair mumkin behed’ (ravine foothills), ‘Banjar beed’ (cultivable grassy foothills) and ‘rundh’ (rocky areas between two hills) should be considered as Aravalli range. This prohibited tree felling and any construction activity, including road work and laying of transmission lines, without its permission in areas shown as ‘forests’ in government records. The state, however, kept most of the Aravalli area outside the definition of ‘forest’ for more than a decade, sacrificing it at the altar of an unplanned realty boom. In September 2014, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change again directed Haryana to identify deemed forests and shared the guidelines for it, as the issue was repeatedly taken up even in the National Capital Region (NCR) Planning Board meetings for years but without any success. So, while it took years for the green cover of the country’s oldest hill range to be called a ‘forest’, it’s already on the verge of extinction.

SC raps govt over PLPA amendment

The Supreme Court (SC) had directed the Haryana Government not to take any further action on the Punjab Land Preservation (Haryana Amendment) Bill 2019, which allows construction activity in Aravalli hills. It termed the amendment as ‘shocking’ as the government took the step though it had been told by the apex court not to do so. “It is really shocking. You are destroying the forest. It is not permissible,” the court said. “It is sheer contempt,” it added. The Bench observed that it had earlier told Haryana not to allow any construction in the forest area of Aravalli hills but still the state went ahead with the amendment.

Implications   

The amendment will automatically exclude urban areas from the protection of the PLPA.

Besides, any area notified under any of the eight specified categories will also be excluded from the purview of the Act. Any area notified in the past, present or even to be notified in future can be exempted and excluded from the purview of the Act. Thus, through this amendment entire Aravalli hills and many parts of Shiwalik hills can be opened to mining and urbanisation.  All that is required is to get the area included in a village development plan, cattle mandi, or an urban master plan. 

The provisions of the Act contradict and subvert several Supreme Court orders that had declared areas covered under the PLPA  as forests, and the amendment is a likely attempt to dilute the impact of these orders. If the Bill is passed, areas under the PLPA will lose the protection of the Forest Conservation Act 1980.

There are 135 notifications under the PLPA regarding the Aravalli region and out of which 115 have already lapsed. The validity of these notifications was extended in 2002 on the orders of the Supreme Court.

“We have already lost substantial forest areas and cannot afford to lose the remaining green cover, as it will push us into the worst ecological catastrophe. The amendment serves no public purpose and rather there is need to strengthen the implementation of the PLPA. Over 80 per cent of the PLPA notifications have already lapsed and Aravalli hills are being treated as forests only on the orders of the Supreme Court. There is need to re-notify the lapsed PLPA notifications and extend the protection of the Act to the remaining Aravalli areas, as Punjab did with regard to 22,000 acres last year. This has opened the entire forests to real estate development, mining and whatever the state government fancies. This has been done without consulting public and the Forest Department. It needs to be stalled,” says Chetan Agarwal, environmentalist

“Haryana has the poorest forest cover and most polluted cities but still it wants to sacrifice its green cover. Before going ahead with it, we want the state government to explain to us while we are suffering due to smog, pollution, and flash floods what will happen if this green cover is also lost? Aravalli forests hold 30 per cent of Delhi NCR’s rainwater, how will we maintain the water table once they are gone? The government cannot bow to realtors and go ahead killing forest,” says Jatinder Bhadana, environmentalist.

“I support the Supreme Court’s take on the amendment as Aravalli hills are vital for the survival of south Haryana. And if they are excluded from the purview of the PLPA, big structures will come up there, as happened in villages near Delhi, and we will end up in an ecological mess. I stand for the protection of the forestland,” says Rao Inderjeet Singh, Gurugram MP


Key provisions of PLPA amendment Bill 

Blanket exclusion of urban areas: The provisions of the PLPA will not apply to all urban areas in the state, including master plan areas and municipal areas. It will also not apply to future urban areas, as they are notified under different statutes. 

Discretionary power to exclude: The state government may notify by an Act, order or statute that the PLPA shall not apply to a specified area. As a result, any land notified under the PLPA in the past, present and also in the future in the state can be exempted by a simple government order, notwithstanding the orders of the Supreme Court, or the Forest Conservation Act, or any similar legislation.

Discretionary power to rescind: The state government can rescind any notification under the Act. 

Discretionary power to exempt: The state government can exempt any area.

Retrospective effect: The Bill comes into force from November 1, 1966, the day Haryana came into being, thus nullifying all actions under the PLPA since then. 

Limits notification period to 30 years: All notifications will be limited to 30 years, and when they expire, all regulations, restrictions or prohibitions will cease to exist. This subverts the Supreme Court direction that the PLPA notifications will continue to remain in force even if they have expired.

30,000 hectares covered under PLPA

  • The PLPA Act extends protection to forests and trees on community (shamlat) land, panchayat, municipal and private land. In Haryana, specific village-wise notifications have been issued to protect non-agricultural forestlands in Shiwalik and Aravalli hills.  
  • Haryana has lowest forest cover of 3.59 per cent in the country.      
  • The PLPA covers 30,000 hectares, or 33 per cent of the effective forestland in Haryana. Reserved forest and compact protected forest are just about 60,000 hectares, while the rest of the protected forests are basically strip forests along roads, canals and rail lines. Therefore, amending the PLPA will reduce the forestland in Haryana by 33 per cent.
  • In Faridabad district, about 10,400 acres covered under the PLPA in Aravalli hills will be excluded while in Gurugram about 17,000 hectares will be excluded.

United for protecting precious green cover

Struggling with rampant pollution, scarcity of groundwater and monsoonal flash floods, residents of Gurugram and Faridabad, supported by various environmentalists, have come together to save Aravalli hills. Ever since the amendment Bill was passed, hundreds of people, including youths, have held 10 protests. Various delegations of environmentalists had met the government to highlight the threat it posed to the ecological health of Gurugram city.

Aravalli hills vital for survival of south Haryana

I support the Supreme Court’s take on the amendment as Aravalli hills are vital for the survival of south Haryana. And if these are excluded from the purview of the PLPA, big structures will come up there, as happened in villages near Delhi, and we will end up in an ecological mess. I stand for the protection of the forestland. — Rao Inderjeet Singh, Gurugram MP

State has poorest forest cover in country

Haryana has the poorest forest cover and most polluted cities but still it wants to sacrifice its green cover. Before going ahead with it, we want the state government to explain to us while we are suffering due to smog, pollution, and flash floods, what will happen if this green cover is also lost? Aravalli forests hold 30 per cent of Delhi NCR’s rainwater, so how will we maintain the water table once they are gone? The government cannot bow to realtors and go ahead killing the forest. — Jatinder Bhadana, environmentalist

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