No new farmhouses being allowed to be constructed in Aravallis
GURUGRAM: Speaking on the issue of degradation of Aravallis at the Haryana Assembly on Thursday, Kanwar Pal Gujjar, the state forest minister said that no new farmhouses are being allowed to come up in the forest area.
He also stated that the action against certain farmhouses that have come up in the area was not being taken as the owners of these residential units have taken a stay order from the court. The reply from the forest minister came during the assembly session where questions were asked of the state government's measures to save Aravallis. Gujjar acknowledged the fact that there was the damage that had been done to the forest area due to activities of illegal constructions and mining. On the preventive measures he highlighted that the technology of satellite imagery and drones were being used to make sure that no more damage to the forest areas take place.
“Our government is committed to saving the Aravallis and we are taking measures to prevent any more damage to the green area. We are making sure that no new constructions are allowed to come up in the green belt and that is one of the major priorities,” said Gujjar.
The discussion on the topic of saving Aravallis comes at a time when the state government has already passed the law that entails a sizeable a portion of the forest area to be removed from the Punjab Land and the Preservation Act (PLPA).
Despite several complaints Aravallis continue to bear the brunt of Illegal mining, encroachment, diminishing green cover in Gurugram and Faridabad belt. The fear for Aravallis remains as out of the 89,526 hectares of forest area in Haryana, 33 per cent of Aravallis comes under PLPA.
Moreover, the activists claim that the government has added provisions which would allow the strong builder lobby and other vested interests to ransack the forest and over 30,000 acres of forest area also run the risk of being destroyed completely.
Only four percent of the area of Aravallis in Gurugram is notified as a forest. The Punjab land conservation act allows twentyfive percent of the green cover of Aravallis to be defined as forest area depending upon how dense the vegetation is.