Diluted regional plan will harm NCR ecology, conservationists write to forest minister

A day after Haryana deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Surender Singh was run over by a dumper truck while investigating illegal mining activity in Haryana’s Nuh district, several experts on Wednesday wrote to Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav, calling for stricter measures to conserve the Aravallis in the National Capital Region (NCR)

A day after Haryana deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Surender Singh was run over by a dumper truck while investigating illegal mining activity in Haryana’s Nuh district, several experts on Wednesday wrote to Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav, calling for stricter measures to conserve the Aravallis in the National Capital Region (NCR).

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They said the proposed draft Regional Plan 2041 (RP-2041) has deleted key regulations that were meant to protect the Aravallis, rivers, water bodies and forests. Highlighting eight such deletions in the draft, experts said these could be detrimental to NCR’s ecology.

The changes included the deletion of key phrases and clauses — limiting construction to 0.5% in natural conservation zones; target for forest cover of 10% in NCR; provision for allocation of wastelands for bringing them under forest cover; terms such as ‘forests,’ ‘Aravallis,’ ‘groundwater recharge areas’, etc — and the removal of a proposed land-use map for NCR.

The letter to Yadav was written by Gurugram-based Chetan Agarwal; Manoj Misra, convener of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan; KT Ravindran, urban designer and former chairman of Delhi Urban Arts Commission; and Neha Sinha, conservational biologist, among others.

The implications for air quality, the Aravallis, forest cover, wildlife habitat, bird habitat, drinking water security, flooding risk and overall public health and well-being will be catastrophic and irreversible both for Delhi as well as adjacent areas of Faridabad and Gurugram. Frontline staff from the forest and police departments have faced threats, assaults, and even made the ultimate sacrifice in protecting these environmental assets from the mining and real estate mafia,” the signatories said.

“...it is strange and incomprehensible that a regional plan impacting over 30,000 sq km, and an area of over 400,000 hectares of natural conservation zone is being approved without any appraisal or scrutiny of its environmental impacts,” they stressed, while seeking a meeting with Yadav to get a commitment from him on protecting the Aravallis.

The minister’s office did not immediately respond to queries seeking comments.

HT reported on December 28 last year that the draft RP-2041 doesn’t mention the word “Aravallis” as part of the natural zones. Under the NCR Regional Plan 2021, which is in force since 2005, nearly the entire Aravalli range in Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan is protected, with no construction allowed in these areas.

The draft RP-2041 substitutes the title ”natural conservation zone” with only “natural zone” and says that a natural zone is an area that features mountains, hills, rivers, and water bodies.

The draft plan was published by National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) on its website on December 9, seeking public comments.

HT also reported on January 18 that over 3,000 people objected to the removal of a clause limiting constructions in natural conservation zones to 0.5% of the total area.

The finalisation and approval of the draft RP-2041 was included in the agenda of the NCRPB’s 42nd meeting this July and according to that agenda, the board received 2,703 objections/suggestions to the draft plan. Around 2,590 of them requested the restoration of the earlier NCZ (natural conservation zones) provisions. The Union environment ministry also sent a letter for restoring all provisions of the earlier NCZ, the agenda showed.

“We have communicated our stand to NCRPB -- that Aravallis need to be protected. Aravallis across NCR can be defined through MoEFCC May 1992 notification. There are a number of NGT orders also on Aravallis,” said a senior environment ministry official, asking not to be named.

But Haryana repeated its earlier requests that the words “hills” may be removed, along with references to applicable court judgments for delineation of natural zones in NCR. The state also did not want any reference to Aravallis in the regional plan. The state’s attempt to dilute the provisions that conserve the Aravallis have been red-flagged by several environmental and legal experts.

“The Aravallis are a buffer for us against extreme desertification, heatwave and aridity. A state like Haryana with low forest cover needs to preserve its forests. The world is going through heatwaves and the places adjoining Aravallis are cooler and more moist. We need this microclimate regulation from a climate and livability perspective,” said Neha Sinha, conservation biologist and author.

In 2009, the Supreme Court imposed a blanket ban on all mining of major and minor minerals in the eco-sensitive fold mountains of Faridabad, Gurugram and Mewat. The order suspended all mining activities in the region till statutory provisions for restoration and reclamation were complied with.

Haryana approached the Supreme Court last year seeking that mining in Gurugram and Faridabad districts be restarted.

On Wednesday, Anil Grover, senior additional advocate general, Haryana, said the plea has not been heard yet.