Haryana to launch Save Aravalli campaign next week
GURGAON: Concerned over the desertification of the Aravallis, the Haryana government will launch a programme next week to take immediate steps to conserve the forest area.
The survey by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) pointed to 12 gaps that have appeared because of drifting of sand in the Aravallis, raising manifold the risk of the area turning into an extension of the Thar desert. The findings have drawn alarm from conservationists and environment activists ahead of the World Environment Day, which is to be observed on Monday.
The 12 identified gaps on the Aravalli hills extend from Magra hills in Ajmer district to KhetriMadhogarh hills in Jhunjhunu district and the northern-most hillocks in Mahendragarh district of Haryana.
The extremely vulnerable areas in the Aravallis include Dungarpur-Banswar, gap area on the Aravalli Range, Upper Banganga Valley, Magra Area, Girwa-Gogunda tract, Jaisamand lake area, Daragarh-BanaraMaja-Dariba area, Abu-Sirohi and Chappan Hills in the south Aravallis. “The findings (of the WII survey) has evoked concern and it is high time we saved the Aravallis from turning into a desert. Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar will inaugurate the conservation programme at Bhondsi on June 17,” MD Sinhna, conservator of forest, South Haryana, said. The programme will talk about the ways to slow down the gaps and desertification process of the Aravallis.
The survey warned that any change in the Aravallis will affect eastern Rajasthan, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and Delhi as the entire area act as a water divide between the Indus basin in the northwest and Ganga basin in the east covering extensive areas of this region and any obstruction and disturbance in the natural set up will lead to large-scale changes in the areas adjoining north Indian plains and will have a devastating impact on the environment.
Taking a serious view of the situation, the state government is in the process of preparing a road map that will be launched on June 17. The state has less than 4% of forest cover and the government aims to increase it by 10% over the next three years.
The survey report said the denudation of forests along the northern and central Aravalli tracts is causing the advancement of the desert area, particularly in areas between the ranges, with increasing intensity of dust storms. The change analysis in the report indicates a decrease in the green cover between 1980 and 2016.