Gurgaon: NGT seeks reply on status of 52 acres of Aravalli land

This order came when the green tribunal was hearing a petition demanding that construction of realty projects be banned in non-cultivable area of the Aravalli, which is deemed forest land.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday sought a reply within a week from the ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) and the NCR planning board regarding the status of the land in Aravalli Sarai Khwaja village of Faridabad district where a housing project is scheduled to come up .

The tribunal sought a clarification as the area comes under the natural conservation zone where construction beyond 0.5% is not allowed. The next hearing is on August 23.

This order came when the green tribunal was hearing a petition filed by Lt Col (retd) Sarvadaman Singh Oberoi demanding that construction of realty projects be banned in gair mumkin pahar (non-cultivable) area of the Aravalli, which is deemed forest land.

The tribunal sought a clarification as the area comes under the natural conservation zone where construction beyond 0.5% is not allowed. The next hearing is on August 23.

When the petitioner mentioned a letter by the conservator of wildlife and forest, Gurgaon, wherein he alleged that the additional chief secretary (ACS), Forest and Wildlife, had forced him to change the land use of an area protected under the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA) area to “not forest”. The official also claimed that the ACS threatened him and the court said that “the ACS should take note of the allegation”.

Vinod Kumar, conservator of forests (wildlife) Gurgaon, had written to principal chief conservator of forests PP Bhojvaid on June 23 stating that SK Gulati, ACS directed him on June 21 to take into account the Survey of India (SoI) map and mark the area “non-forest” where the Bharti realty project is approved by the state government.

Speaking to HT, Gulati said that area is “non- forest” and the project has got approval from the town and country department. “The forest department never planted any trees on the 52 acres. The land is not forest area according to the SoI map and so permission was given to chop trees,” Gulati said.

More than 10,000 trees were chopped in the 52 acres to facilitate the construction of the housing project, activists have claimed.