Residents of Sector 20 in Panchkula have said that their pleas to have their green belt saved, which they say is in danger, has been falling on deaf ears.
Once a thick forest area, the belt is now ridden with large patches of barren land with trees cut off. Residents claim that the government is planning to construct the Ashiana flats by “destroying” the green area.
Recently, the Sector-20 resident welfare association requested the chief administrator of Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) to save the green area and the developed park number 2008 in their sector. Others have met the Panchkula MLA as well.
KK Jindal, president of the RWA, said that Sector 20 is known as a concrete jungle as it is the most thickly populated sector in Panchkula with a population of around 60,000. “But a 9.6 acre green or forest area consisting of over 3,000 medicinal and fruit trees helps maintain an ecological balance here. However, HSVP and CTP are busy planning destruction of the green belt and the adjoining park under the name of Ashiana Scheme,” he alleged.
Construction of flats approved by HSVP: RTI
The RTI reply availed by the one of the residents of Sector 20 and shared by the RWA president mentions that “the parks have been merged into Ashiana Scheme approved by chief administrator of HSVP, Panchkula, on October 1, 2020”.
{{/usCountry}}The RTI reply availed by the one of the residents of Sector 20 and shared by the RWA president mentions that “the parks have been merged into Ashiana Scheme approved by chief administrator of HSVP, Panchkula, on October 1, 2020”.
{{/usCountry}}Some residents have been raising the issue on social media as well, wherein they have shared pictures of the “destruction”. Akhil Goel, a resident, shared: “Once a thick forest and habitation of wild life, it is slowly being converted into a barren land. Trees are being cut in hundreds, daily transport vehicles can be seen in big numbers; shanties are being made.”
Goel said: “If the government cannot plant trees, at least it must not axe them. They are destroying a beautiful, thick forest.”
He added that there were already about 2,000 houses and flats for EWS in the sector. Currently roads and infrastructure is already insufficient to cope with vehicles of sector 20 , from adjoining peer Mashallah and The Dhakoli localities of Punjab.
Jindal said that they were not against the rehabilitation of EWS, just against the cutting of trees. “We request you to preserve thousands of trees and plants in the 10-acre garden and adjoining park in this sector and maintain the context of the World Environment Day,” the president requested.
However, when contacted, the chief administrator of HSVP, Ajit Balaji Joshi, said: “There is no such proposal yet.” When asked about the RTI, he said: “I don’t reply to these RTIs, but other officials do.”