GURUGRAM: A two-kilometre-long road has been dug in the protected
Aravali region, in what appeared to be a major violation of environmental norms.
TOI visited the area on Sunday and found that earth has been dug up from Kharak village to Raisina village, which local residents alleged was the act of
farmhouse owners for illegally laying
water pipelines from borewells situated in low-lying areas to their properties on the hills because of water scarcity in the region.
“This is not the first time that the road has been dug up for laying down a water
pipeline in the area. However, this is probably the first time that such a long stretch has been dug to lay the pipeline. It is because water table on the hill has declined in the past three to four years. No water is left on the hills. Farmhouses owners are, therefore, violating the rules to get water,” said a local resident, requesting anonymity.
Reportedly, some trees have also been felled for digging work. “Not only the road has been dug, but some trees along the road have also been cut to widen the stretch so as to make the pit broader. Such violations have become common in the area. Locals generally don’t want to get into trouble with the rich farmhouse owners. Therefore, such violations go unreported,” said another villager.
Green activists have slammed the farmhouse owners for openly flouting the Supreme Court’s ban on extraction of groundwater in 448 square kilometre area of the Aravalis in Gurugram and Faridabad. Besides, the area falls under the Aravali Notification Act and therefore no construction is allowed in the area.
“Even though the area falls under the Aravalli notification and is protected under sections 4 and 5 of the Environment Protection Act, 1992, all sorts of construction activities are going on in the Aravalis. There is an urgent need to declare the entire Aravali ‘a deemed forest’,” said Jitender Bhadana from Save Aravalis (an environmental NGO).
Rampant tree-cutting has also been taking place in the Aravalis for the past seven to eight months. Haryana forest minister Rao Narbir Singh, a couple of months ago, had launched a drone project to keep a check over such environmental violations in the Aravalis.
The forest department has selected Raisina as one of the villages for mapping of encroachment.
In the past eight months, 11 cases of tree-felling and illegal construction have been reported in the Aravalis. Four of which were reported from Raisina village.
Despite repeated attempts, D Hembram, conservator of forests (south circle), could not be contacted.
Farmhouse owners dug up the stretch, violating norms, say villagers
