A few months ago, thousands of Gurugram residents came together and took it upon themselves to save the Aravalis by protesting the passage of an NHAI road through the Aravali Biodiversity Park (BDP). However, the Manohar Lal Khattar government once again tried to compromise with the natural vegetation and the forest cover of the Aravalis to benefit the realty sector.

An amendment in the PLPA, which was tabled in the recent Budget Session starting 20th February, would leave almost 60,000 acres of land in the Aravali – classified as Natural Conservation Zone (NCZ) – out of the protected area. This would open doors to legal private ownership by realtors to a large portion of the Aravalis. More worrying was the opaque manner in which the State Government functioned on this crucial matter. The copy of the draft amendment bill was not available anywhere in the public domain and there was no public consultation whatsoever by the government. The government did not even deem the issue fit to be considered by the environmentalists and citizens of Gurugram. Moreover, when the residents of Gurugram communicated their concerns to the Hon’ble State Forest Minister Rao Narbir Singh, he could not give any substantial reasons for amending the Act and was quoted saying that since the law was dated 1900, the government had to amend it.

Out of 22,000 hectares of forest land in South Haryana, 7,000 hectares are in Gurugram while another 4,000 hectares are in Faridabad. Environmentalists have pointed out that this step will lay bare important ecological preserves in Gurgaon and Faridabad like Mangar Bani, catchments of the Badhkal, Surajkund and Damadama lakes, and other forest areas. Our state has the lowest forest cover in the entire country – at a meagre 3.59%. Any such step will further reduce the forest cover in Haryana.

The protests by citizens of Gurugram and thousands of signatures on this petition fell on deaf ears as the Legislative Assembly of Haryana passed the bill. However, Hon'ble Supreme Court took note of the development and rapped the Haryana Government for its misadventure, staying the amendment till 8th of March, which is when the matter will be taken up. Even in the past, the top court has passed several orders to safeguard the Aravalis and has criticized illegal encroachments. Amending the PLPA will give a 'post facto' approval to the existing encroachments.

If we don't act now, we could end up losing the Aravali forests, which act as the groundwater recharge zone, wildlife habitat, and the green lungs of Delhi NCR. The only beneficiaries of this amendment would be the wealthy and powerful real estate companies. 

Through this petition, we are asking Shri Manohar Lal Khattar, Chief Minister of Haryana, to take back the amendment and stop any such activity that is dangerous to the environment of Haryana and Delhi NCR. At the same time, we request Hon’ble Chief Minister and the Forest Ministry to make available a copy of the bill in the public domain so that it can be studied and proper consultation can take place.

Please sign this petition as it is our duty to honour and protect the entire Aravali Forests.
#SaveAravaliForests #SaveAravali

Citizens of Gurugram and Delhi NCR