Wildlife department to develop grasslands in Aravallis forests in south Haryana

Gurugram: To ensure availability of food inside forests during the summer months, the wildlife department has started work to develop grasslands inside the Aravallis forests in south Haryana districts, said officials on Sunday

Gurugram: To ensure availability of food inside forests during the summer months, the wildlife department has started work to develop grasslands inside the Aravallis forests in south Haryana districts, said officials on Sunday.

The wildlife department has issued tenders for the project and it may cost around ₹20 lakh, said officials. (HT PHOTO)

The grasslands will be developed in small pockets of land in districts such as Faridabad, Gurugram, Nuh, Rewari and Palwal.

Rajender Parsad Dangi, divisional wildlife officer, Gurugram, confirmed the development and said, “We have started work to develop grasslands in the forests before the summer season so that there is food available inside the forests itself when temperatures start rising. It has been noticed that due to lack of availability of food in summers, wildlife moves to human habitation that leads to man-animal conflict.”

Dangi said that the department has issued tenders for the project and it is likely to cost around ₹20 lakh and work will get completed by the next month. Officials also said that they have started cleaning water holes in the forests to ensure availability of water during the summer months.

“In the past one year, we have developed 25 ponds across the Aravallis forests in Gurugram district. In the whole south Haryana region, around 60 ponds have been developed in the past few years. From April-May onwards, our staff will check if these ponds have water readily available and if water dries up, we will make sure to fill them with tanker water,” added Dangi.

In December last year, the wildlife department had said that it would dig at least 20 ponds in the Aravallis by March. These ponds have been developed in Faridabad, Gurugram, Nuh, Rewari and Mahendragarh districts.

Officials from the Gurugram wildlife department said that water bodies were developed in the shape of a pan and the boundaries of the ponds were constructed in such a manner that animals were able to approach the watering holes easily. These ponds will be replenished by using water tankers during the peak summer months.