Even the Chennai floods which showed nature’s fury to the world has failed to move the authorities as the Gurgaon administration has asked the state government to leave the Aravali foothills and grasslands in the district out of the natural conservation zones.
The move has drawn a sharp reaction from the forest department and environmentalists who fear irreparable damage to the ecology.
In a letter to the Haryana chief secretary, the administration has said classifying foothills and grasslands as NCZs is like “indulging in ecological intellectual fantasy” that is not in tune with urbanisation. It has also said that including them in the Aravali ecosystem would lead to confusion in the interpretation of NCZs, reported Times of India.
Haryana is in the process of redrawing the contours of NCZs whose area was defined in 2005.
The administration’s stance on grasslands and foothills has met with resistance from within the government.
Conservator of forest (south circle) M D Sinha has written to the principal secretary, highlighting their importance as the last vestige of the oncerich biodiversity of the region and the need to save them for healthy survival of future generations.
Green activists have also condemned the move, saying the groundtruthing exercise will be rendered ineffective if large tracts of Aravalis are wilfully kept outside its boundaries.
Jitendra Bhadana of NGO Save Aravali said the entire range, including foothills and grasslands, has been responsible for recharging groundwater in NCR for ages and any damage to it could wreak havoc on the entire region.