Aravalis’ slow death: Farmhouse on land that was a hillock just 2 yrs ago

Gurgaon: Depending on the season, Raisina could look stark brown (summer) or lush green (monsoon). Its landscape is undulating, made up largely of hillocks, interspersed with habitation, which is spreading with each passing year. At one place, an entire hillock has disappeared to make way for a farmhouse.
It took just 50 years for a fourth of the Aravali hills to get wiped out in Rajasthan, under the onslaught of large-scale mining. When the finding was placed before the Supreme Court this October, the judges were shocked.

Mining is banned in the southern Haryana Aravalis but another land-hungry industry — real estate — thrives here, rapidly colonising the country’s oldest hill ranges. The Raisina hillock was flattened in just two years. The area around has been levelled as well, to build roads and set up power lines. Construction is not permitted in the entire area as it falls under ‘gair mumkin pahar’ (non-cultivable land) and the Aravali Notification.

Illegal construction in the Aravalis in the Raisina village has been a major environmental concern, underscored by a series of demolition drives undertaken in the area in the past.

The farmhouse that has come up where the hillock stood squats on an area of around 1,000 square yards. The land reclaimed from the hillock is around five acres. Construction work was on around the farmhouse when this correspondent visited the area on Thursday. An earth-moving machine was also in action.

Scores of trees such as dhau, dhak and kikar were felled over the last two years to flatten the hillock. “This side of the village was always a lush green hillock, with trees. We used to take our cattle on the hillock. Leopards, hyenas and wild boars have been spotted here as well. But people own land on the hillock. They have flattened it,” a local resident, who did not wish to be named, said.

“As the area has now been handed over from the village panchayat to the municipal corporation, there is hardly any check on the acquisition of land here. People get change of land use approvals for agriculture purpose, but carry out construction of houses and farmhouses with the help of local property dealers,” said another.

Environmentalists said hillocks are flattened to show that an area should not be classified as a forest. “At a time when the national capital is struggling to breathe, such activities are taking place every day. It is high time the entire Aravalis is given the forest tag. The problem is that there is no accountability of the forest department and police,” said Vivek Kamboj, a city-based environmentalist. He had filed a plea in the National Green Tribunal in 2015 against encroachment by farmhouses in the village.

Talking about the importance of hillocks, Vijay Dhasmana, an ecologist, told TOI, “In Gurgaon, such sandy hillocks are found across the Aravalis. The protection of hillocks and dunes is as important as the protection of the Aravali hills. These hillocks play a significant role in ground water recharge. Since as it is convenient to flatten a sandy hillock rather than rocky hills, encroachment of these hillocks is rampant.”

The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) and the department of town and country planning (DTCP) passed the buck to each other. “About 200 farmhouses were identified in May this year, and DTCP was to raze the illegal construction in the area. However, we will get this violation checked,” said an official of HSPCB.

A DTCP official said, “Since the area falls under the jurisdiction of the municipal council of Sohna, we have written to them to check the violation.”

District forest officer Deepak Nanda said, “We are investigating the matter and will take action in case of any violation.”