400 trees felled in protected Aravali land for farmhouse

GURUGRAM: More than 400 trees have been felled in Sanp ki Nagli area of Gurugram during the last two-three days to make way for a farmhouse. The land which comes under the purview of General Section 4 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA) reportedly belongs to a well-known Punjabi singer.
TOI visited the spot and found out that the four-acre plot has been cleared of trees. More than 100 logs are still lying at the plot. Around 20 stumps were also found in the area.
Tree species, including neem (Azadirachta indica), papri (Holoptelea Integrifolia), ronjh (Acacia leucophloea) and vilayati kikar (Prosopis juliflora) have been felled. There is a cow shelter adjacent to the plot owned by the singer. The area is surrounded by hills that have thick vegetation of dhau (Anogeissus Pendula). The hills have many seasonal waterfalls and a seasonal drain (known as barsati).
Locals said tree felling was started on Friday. “We were shocked. As many as 200 trees were removed on Friday itself. As the land is owned by a renowned singer, not many objected to tree felling. Forest department officials, however, visited the site and took about 200 logs into their custody,” said a villager, requesting anonymity.
A forest official said the land falls under of the purview of Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA) and the department issued a “damage report”. “We have already issued a damage report for about Rs. 90,000 against the land owner for felling 196 trees. Also, we have directed the land owner to plant at least 10,000 trees in the area,” said Deepak Nanda, district forest officer, Gurugram.
However, TOI accessed the list and found that the Mustil (land record) numbers (166, 167 and 197) of the area fall under the Aravali plantation, which is a forest under the FCA, 1980. Therefore, the forest department has to take action — which includes filing of a police complaint and/or moving the court — against the accused.
Calling it a clear violation of the Supreme Court judgment, former forest conservator RP Balwan told TOI, “The Aravali plantation is clearly a deemed forest. If any kind of non-forest activity takes place in the area falling under the Aravali plantation, the accused should be booked under the provisions of FCA, 1980. In TN Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union of India case, the Supreme Court clearly said ‘forest’ must be understood according to its ‘dictionary meaning’. In many other orders, the same thing was said by the apex court.”
Asked why action has not been taken under the provisions of FCA 1980, a senior forest official said, “As of now, we know that the area falls under General Section 4 of PLPA and we therefore issued a damage report as per the norms. We are yet to check if the land is under the Aravali plantation.”
During 1990s and 2000s, the European Union funds were spent to carry out the Aravali plantation. Nearly 3.3 crore trees were planted in over 30,000 hectares across 13 districts in Haryana. Around Rs 175 crore were spent to carry out the drive.
Sunil Harsana, an activist who highlighted the issue, said, “Such violations are rampant in the Aravalis. It is shocking that the plantation which was carried out after spending so much of funds is now being destructed. A penalty is definitely not an answer. There is a need to find out how the land falling under Aravali plantation has been privatised. It is a violation of the forest conservation act.”