Gurgaon: 'Declare Aravallis a protected zone'
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Gurgaon: 'Declare Aravallis a protected zone'

Citizens took out a street march in DLF City to ask the government to stop builders from constructing on forest land.

Gurgaon: 'Declare Aravallis a protected zone' Residents pose for a photograph during the march.

Hundreds of Gurgaon residents took out a 3-km street march in DLF City demanding local authorities to declare the Aravalli mountain zone a protected forest area. The march began from Silver Oaks Chowk and continued on the Gurgaon-Faridabad Expressway towards Faridabad.

Sarvadaman Oberoi, a city-based environmentalist, said, “Gurgaon has no forest area, apart from MCG citizen-run biodiversity park. We want the entire Aravalli region of Gurgaon, including the biodiversity park, to be declared a city forest.” He added, “The Aravalli mountain range plays a critical role in maintaining the ecological balance of Gurgaon and Delhi, as it provides essential green cover and helps maintain the water table.”

Chetan Agrawal, another environmentalist, claimed that the recent declaration of a 100-m buffer zone from the Haryana side for the Asola Bhati Sanctuary is nothing but an eyewash. “The eco-sensitive zone for Asola should extend to Damdama, Badkhal and the three other lakes of the region. The lakes and the Asola sanctuary would complement each other and enhance the area's green cover. At present, these lakes have completely dried up because of continuous recharging of the groundwater table.”

Gurgaon citizens also demanded that no private developer be allowed to construct on forest land and that the state government immediately stop issuing Change of Land Use (CLU) certificates to private builders.

Haryana has the Shivalik hills on the north and the Aravalli range to the south, with forest cover in eight to nine districts out of 21. 

 

 

 

Gurgaon residents (in above three pictures) hold placards during the march.