Ggm lost highest forest area, Hry last in list

Gurugram Haryana, again, continues to have the lowest forest cover in India, as per the Forest Survey of India’s (FSI) latest report on the state of forests. The

Gurugram Haryana, again, continues to have the lowest forest cover in India, as per the Forest Survey of India’s (FSI) latest report on the state of forests. The Indian State of Forests Report 2019 (ISFR), released on Monday, pegs the state’s increase in forest cover (between 2015 and 2017) at 0.03 percentage points, far below the national average of 0.56%.

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As per the ISFR 2017 (the report is published biennially), Haryana had a forest cover comprising 3.59% of its total area. The ISFR 2019 notes an increase in this figure, to 3.62%. Areawise, the state’s forest cover rose by 14.44 square kilometres, which experts said is a ‘minuscule’ and ‘negligible’ increment. Haryana’s tree cover, by comparison, increased by 150 square kilometres, coming to a total of 1,565 square kilometres (sqkm).

Haryana’s forest policy (framed in 2006), “has fixed the goal of achieving 20% Forest and Tree Cover in the state in a phased manner.” The latest ISFR does not do much to inspire faith in this claim among experts and environmentalists.

As per the ISFR 2009, for example, Haryana’s total forest cover was at 3.61%. “It shows how little Haryana has done, in 10 years, to bring more areas under forest cover,” said city-based environmentalist Vaishali Rana Chandra.

Of the 44, 212 square kilometres, state area, just 1,602.44 square kilometres are forest cover (as opposed to 1,588 sqkm in 2017). Of these, 28 sqkm come under ‘very dense forest’, 451 sqkm come under ‘moderately dense forest’, while 1,124 sqkm come under ‘open forest’ category. The FSI has also identified 45 species of trees, 43 species of shrubs and 50 species of herbs in Haryana during its assessment, conducted between October and December 2017.

The ISFR 2019 also notes that “during the period from January 1, 2015, to February 5, 2019, a total of 1,529 hectares of forest land in Haryana was diverted for non-forestry purposes under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.” Of the state’s 21 districts, Gurugram lost 0.82 square kilometres of forest cover between 2015 and 2017, more than any other district. This was followed by Ambala, which lost 0.65 square kilometres of forest cover during the same time. Neighbouring Faridabad, meanwhile, lost 0.06 square kilometres of forest cover.

Panchkula, at 43.51%, has the highest forest cover in Haryana (owing to the presence of the Shiwalik Hills), followed by Yamunanagar (10.94%), Faridabad (10.79%) and Gurugram (9.24%). While these districts, along with five others, all recorded loss of forest cover in the ISFR 2019, other districts recorded an increase.

Mahendragarh recorded the highest, adding 4.29 sqkm of forest cover between 2015 and 2017, followed by Rewari, which added 3.45 sqkm of forest cover in the same period.

While the state has a recorded forest area (RFA) of 1,559 square kilometres — indicating regions protected under the FCA, 1980 — the forest cover in this area amounted to just 373 square kilometres. The majority of the state’s forest cover, the FSI report shows, lies outside of areas which are conferred legal ‘forest’ status. This area comes to 1,229 square kilometres.

“This large discrepancy exists because Haryana has not yet notified the Aravallis as forests under the Indian Forest Act, 1927. In fact, there is no mention of the word ‘Aravalli’ in the ISFR 2019, whereas Rajasthan has acknowledged the presence of legal Aravalli forests,” said Col (retd.) Saravdaman Oberoi.

In south Haryana, only the Aravalli areas which are notified under the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900, are included in the RFA.

While they expressed some hope at the marginal increase in Haryana’s forest cover, experts also cautioned that the future of the state’s forests remains uncertain. “The majority of tree cover falling outside the RFA consists of ‘gair mumkin pahar’ land, which is Aravalli land that is not notified under PLPA, or any other law. There is no protection for these areas,” said Sunil Harsana, an activist from Faridabad’s Mangar village.

Experts pointed out that recent amendments to the PLPA, 1900, which received the governor’s assent earlier this year, in contravention to the Supreme Court’s stay, would remove at least 240 sqkm of Aravallis in south Haryana from the state’s RFA. Additionally, a MoEFCC report submitted to the National Green Tribunal on November 19, recommended the exclusion of about 577 sqkm of ecologically sensitive Aravalli land from the National Capital Region Planning Board’s Natural Conservation Zone (NCZ).

The PLPA amendments will reduce Haryana’s recorded forest area (RFA) substantially, while the proposed reduction in the NCZs will ensure that ecologically-sensitive land parcels, which have been awaiting legal protection, will not receive any. In fact, NCZ areas that are currently protected under the FCA (1980) by virtue of being notified under the PLPA (1900), will also lose ‘forest’ status in view of the amended PLPA. “Implemented in tandem, the PLPA amendment and reduction in NCZ will ensure that there will be barely any legal forests left in Haryana. This contradicts the state’s own forest policy,” Oberoi added.

Officials from the state forest department, and its regional offices in Faridabad and Gurugram, did not respond to requests for comment. However, Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar, while launching the ISFR 2019 on Monday, said, “There are various court orders which establish the definition of forests and call for protection of the Aravalli range. We will ensure that the Aravallis are protected,” he said.

“Given the adverse political and policy environment vis-a-vis the forest department, it is a relief that forest cover has not decreased. Over 50,000 acres of Aravalli are awaiting deemed forest tag since 1996. The first 52 acres were declared as deemed forest by the NGT in Faridabad in 2019, but the Haryana government has claimed its neither forest nor Aravalli, and appealed the order in the SC,” said Gurugram-based forest analyst Chetan Agarwal.