Gurugram DC bans adventure sports in Aravallis, orders ‘airstrip’ check

Tribune News Service

Sumedha Sharma

Gurugram, February 29

Flooded with complaints of an illegal airstrip being operated in the Raisina area of the Aravallis for paragliding and glider flying, the Gurugram DC has ordered an inspection and a ban on such commercial sports activities.

No commercial activity allowed

Parts of the Aravallis are being used for activities like hot air balloon, off-roading and vehicle races. The land falls under "Gair Mumkin Pahar" and no commercial activity is allowed there.

Constituting a special team, DC Nishant Yadav has ordered the review of the area, along with other parts of the Aravallis that are being used for activities like hot air balloon, off-roading and vehicle races. The land falls under “Gair Mumkin Pahar” and no commercial activity is allowed here.

Speaking to “The Tribune”, Yadav said, “We have received reports of an airstrip having been built and operation of illegal paragliders and flyers. We have ordered an investigation and the team will inspect the spot. No such activity will be allowed and those organising it or participating in it will be fined heavily.”

About two weeks ago, residents had complained to the local administration that a 550-m airstrip and a hangar for small planes had come up on a 20-acre plot in a protected section of the Aravallis. Not concretised, it was a flat clearing in the hills that had, like the Raisina farmhouses, been privately built and was “for private use”. Locals said they had seen small aircraft land and take off from the strip.

Environmentalists have, time and again, highlighted the misuse of the Aravallis for illegal commercial activities. Besides paragliding, every weekend hundreds of bikes and cars enter the forest for off-roading. This also opens non-cultivable part to encroachment.

Yadav chaired a meeting of the anti-mining task force here today, where orders were issued to constitute a new vigilance team to man susceptible spots, besides keeping a check on roads to catch vehicles carrying illegally mined stones and sand. The teams will keep a watch on vehicles involved in illegal mining activities on various roads in the district, and ensure action against them.

District Mining Officer Anil Kumar said the Mining Department had seized 49 vehicles involved in illegal mining activities in the current financial year in Gurugram. During this period, challans worth Rs 57.27 lakh had been issued and FIRs had been lodged against 35 persons, he said.

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