NCR’S green lungs Mangar Bani will be declared a forest soon: Khattar

GURGAON: Mangar Bani — the last virgin forest area of Delhi-ncr located along the Faridabad-gurgaon border — will soon be officially declared a forest area, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Friday.

‘Bani’ is a block of forest with dense tree cover that falls within Mangar and Bandhwari villages.

”Work to protect the dense Mangar Bani is still on. I had seen that Mangar has a patch of forest that needs to be protected. Last year, I saw Mangar Bani from a helicopter and had declared it as a no-construction zone to preserve it,” said Khattar at a conference in Gurgaon.

The Haryana government had earlier declared Mangar Bani grove as ‘no-construction zone’ on April 1, 2016.

The land in the Mangar Bani core area and the 500-metre wide buffer area around it fall the revenue estate of three villages — Mangar and Kot in Faridabad district and Bandhwari village in Gurgaon district. This area is to be treated as a no-construction zone, as mentioned in a notification issued by state government.

Even though the government demarcated Mangar Bani in February last year, it is yet to be Letters from PMO and MOEF to Govt of Haryana and NCR Planning Board to protect Mangar Bani

Board meeting of NCRPB directed to demarcate Mangar Bani and 500 metre bufferas “no construction zone” (NOCZ)

Sub-regional Plan of Haryana notified, but did not show Mangar Bani in the map and reduced the buffer by 90% from 500 metres to 60 metres

The revenue department reduced the area of Mangar Bani to around 165 acres in a faulty demarcation.

Objection from forest depart - ment and civil society on faulty demarcation

declared as a forest . After the demarcation, however, the area of Mangar Bani and its buffer zone increased from 600.7 acres and 1,136.4 acres to 677.12 acres and 1,266.91 acres, respectively.

ABOUT MANGAR BANI

Chief Minister Haryana restored Mangar Bani buffer to 500 metres in board meeting of the NCRPB

A committee was formed to demarcate Mangar Bani and buffer zone.

The Mangar Bani core zone and its buffer are spread across the three villages of Mangar, Bandhwari and Kot. The Aravalli lands are at various stages of privatisation in these villages.

Back in the 1960s these areas were owned by the panchayat Govt of Haryana approved scientific principle of watershed ridgeline approach to delineate Mangar Bani

Mangar Bani demarcated as 677.12 acres. Buffer of 500 includes about 1266.91 acres.

and recorded as Panchayat Deh.

But in 2001, part of the land was privatized, which was stayed in 2006.

Individuals and companies who bought parts of the hill d in its privatised phase are still fighting cases in court.