Punjab and Haryana HC notice to Centre, Hry on PIL against Aravali constructions

“The opening up of more areas in Aravalis for construction do not serve any public purpose but is purely to benefit the illegal farmhouse owners, Ansals Retreat, DLF etc under the shield of welfare,” he said in the PIL, adding construction of the road through the area will lead to cutting of thousands of trees.

Saying that the state government is trying to dilute the forest cover and has failed to declare Aravali as a forest, Dhingra also told the court the state has kept a large area of Aravali hills outside Natural Conservation Zone (NCZ) under “status to be decide(d)/confirmed” category and the bigger problem pertains to the lack of clarity over the identification of the NCZ. “It is submitted that about 11,000 acres of land in Gurgaon and Faridabad are in the ‘yet to be decided’ category. In Gurgaon district alone, 10,000 acres has been left out of the NCZ, and no decision has been taken by the Government as regards the status of the land,” the plea reads.

The court was also told that the National Capital Region Planning Board’s Planning Committee has also asked the Haryana government to expedite the exercise of NCZ delineation and submit the final report to the environment ministry.