Forest dept gets 2nd legal notice over land transfer

Gurgaon: A second legal notice has been served to the forest department for refusing to respond to an RTI application about the transfer of 1,000 acres in the Aravalis for Global City which will serve as an important node to the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). Activists have also sent a copy of the notice to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).
The RTI application sought information on the status of land, where Global City is being planned, but the forest department has not given any answer.
“It has been more than a month but no information has been provided. We even sent a legal notice to the forest department but there was no response. The information sought is about the status of land and to protect the minimal 3.5% forest cover of the state. This kind of information related to public interest can’t be denied,” said Vaishali Rana Chandra, an environmental activist. Lt Col (Retd.)
Sarvadaman Singh Oberoi, another environmentalist, alleged that the forest department was denying information as the authorities had illegally transferred NCZ (natural conservation zone) land for the project.
“According to the notified map of National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB), the area is NCZ. The Haryana government has made some false claims, that the NCZ area was denotified, without any permission from the NCRPB. This is the reason that the forest department is denying information to us. We will not allow another dense forest to disappear for DMIC,” he added.
The Haryana government is planning to develop Global City near Sector 36B.
The project is expected to have residential and industrial zones, along with a large convention centre and an 82-km-long mass rapid transit system connecting Gurgaon-Manesar-Bawal.
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