Around 100 more trees chopped near Mangar Bani, say activists
GURGAON: Around 100 trees were chopped from an area of nearly two acres close to the Mangar Bani, a sacred grove, on Saturday morning, environmental activists alleged.
The area comes under the Aravalli notification where cutting of trees in the area without permission is prohibited. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on December 7 had asked a violator to deposit ₹1 lakh for chopping trees in the Mangar forest area.
According to the residents, attempts were made to clear the two-acre plot by using an earth mover. Environmentalists said they will file a complaint in the matter to the forest authorities.
Around 3am on Saturday, some unidentified men dismantled the fencing by the forest department. Earlier, in November, tree felling was seen on the same plot.
The forest department was informed about the incident by the residents after they spotted tree felling on the land. This spot is located less than 50 metres from the Mangar police station.
The green activists have raised concern in this matter saying despite the land being close to the police station and a forest guard in the vicinity, the violators still succeed in felling trees at regular intervals.
“This is a blatant violation of the NGT order and the continuous practice of tree felling may lead to the destruction of the sacred grove,” said Jitender Bhadana, an environmentalist.
Residents had earlier alleged that around 60 trees were felled in a two acre area on November 18. The plot has been recorded as ‘gair mumkin pahar’ and the owner of the land has allegedly felled 1,000 trees on the site from December 2015 to April 2016 and is trying to clear the land of vegetation, alleged green activists.