Hry Police to pay ₹31-cr fine for its centre on Aravalli

CHIEF SECY ASKED TO FILE AN ACTION TAKEN REPORT BY MARCH 13, WHEN THE TRIBUNAL WILL CONTINUE TO HEAR THE CASE

GURUGRAM: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the chief secretary of Haryana to take appropriate action against the state police department for constructing a training and research centre on Aravalli forest land in Bhondsi without necessary approval. The NGT has also upheld the state police’s request seeking retroactive diversion of the forest land for the project, for which the police have agreed to pay a penalty of ₹31 crore.

The chief secretary has been asked to file an action taken report by March 13, when the tribunal will continue to hear the case. On August 9, 2019, the NGT had ruled that a police training centre of the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) in Bhondsi had been built on protected Aravalli land without obtaining required clearances under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. According to previous Supreme Court orders, PLPA lands are allotted legal ‘forest’ status. The tribunal arrived at its ruling after considering a May 2019 report from the state forest department, which stated, “The forest department has not granted any permission to the IRB for felling trees. Building and roads have been constructed in the centre without prior approval of the Union government under provisions of the FCA.”

The IRB currently occupies close to 400 acres of PLPA-notified land in Bhondsi. Houses, offices and a research centre were constructed on 60 acres in 2004. A 480-metre check dam in Kadarpur has also been subsumed by the project which, according to a 2019 petition filed by Ram Avtar Yadav, resulted in the felling of over 62,000 trees.

The NGT’s latest order in the matter, dated February 4, also states that “a proposal has now been moved on 23.01.2020 to the Union government for diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes.” A senior forest department official, requesting anonymity, said, “The state police has applied to the environment ministry, retroactively seeking diversion of forest land for the project. ”

A report containing these details had been submitted to the NGT on January 23 by the chief conservator of forests, Panchkula. Responding to it, the NGT noted, “While the above action may have been now taken, the fact remains that law has been blatantly violated for which accountability needs to be fixed.”

Hanif Qureshi, inspector general, IRB, said on Friday, “We will comply with the NGT’s orders. About 60 acres was transferred to the police department in 2011, but it is still recorded as forest land. Our new request for diversion of the whole 390-odd acres is pending with the Central government. If they approve it, we will ensure that adequate compensatory afforestation is done to restore the green cover.”

Ram Avtar Yadav, whose petition in the NGT resulted in these developments, said, “I am happy that the NGT has upheld the law, but also disappointed that it has allowed such a large-scale violation to be regularised. ”