Haryana: Tree felling, mining still go unchecked in Mangar Bani

MANGAR: Around 20 trees have been felled and soil removed from over an acre of the Mangar Bani sacred grove, NCR's last remaining patch of the original Aravali forest. The trees felled include those of the ronj, dhau, papdi and jand species.
Mangar Bani is a high biodiversity zone, the only place in Delhi-NCR where nearly 30 different tree species native to the Aravalis are reportedly thriving. A visit to the area by TOI on Monday revealed that the roots of several other trees have been damaged due to the mining of earth using earthmovers. Locals said several areas that were lush with vegetation are now barren patches.
Also, the temple inside the grove is being repaired, which has resulted in the dumping of construction and demolition (C&D) waste in the Aravalis and threatening the biodiversity of the area, they said.
"The frequent movement of earthmovers and heavy vehicles carrying construction materials are hampering the ecology of the area. A few bird nests were also found damaged. We found baby owlets on the ground. After that incident happened, birds are not building any more nests in the trees near the forest trail. The roots of several trees in Mangar Bani near the temple have been exposed as the soil has been removed using earthmovers," a villager told TOI.
Meanwhile, environmentalists pointed out that the forest department needs to increase monitoring of the area. "Mangar Bani is witnessing the dumping of waste, including plastic. People have started to extensively use the trails passing through the sacred grove. The government needs to monitor it to ensure that no non-forest activity is carried out," said Sunil Harsana, an environmental activist and resident of Mangar.
Mangar Bani and the surrounding 'gair mumkin pahar' (uncultivable hill) areas provide critical ecosystem services to Faridabad, Gurgaon and Delhi. They are contiguous with the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary. Mangar Bani is an important bird habitat and wildlife zone, and also a groundwater recharge area as identified by the Central Ground Water Board.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2014 directed the Haryana government to identify Mangar Bani as a protected forest, which was followed by the delineation of the Mangar Bani protected area in December 2015. The entire area is a no-construction zone and non-forest activities like tree felling and mining aren't allowed here, according to forest officials.
The forest department said they will initiate action against the violators. "We visited the area last week and issued a forest offence report. We will submit it to the environmental court. We will take stringent action in this case, as tree felling, dumping of C&D waste or mining is not allowed in the area," Faridabad divisional forest officer Raj Kumar said.