Impasse over conservation zones in Aravallis

While the forest department wants the ‘NCZ status yet to be decided’ category to be maintained for about 1,200 hectares of ‘bhood’ land (sandy foothills), DTCP officials want these areas to be excluded from the NCZ.

A state-level meeting on Friday, to decide on the delineation of the Natural Conservation Zones (NCZs) in the Aravallis region, was unable to arrive at a resolution. Multiple officials who attended the meeting that took place in Gurugram said this was due to the absence of Apoorva Kumar Singh, who is the principal secretary of the Haryana town and country planning department (DTCP).

While the forest department wants the ‘NCZ status yet to be decided’ category to be maintained for about 1,200 hectares of ‘bhood’ land (sandy foothills), DTCP officials want these areas to be excluded from the NCZ. (HT FILE PHOTO)

Kumar, along with officials in the forest, revenue and disaster management departments, is part of a committee, which has been set up to decide on whether certain parts of the Aravallis should be excluded from the NCZ.

However, the committee’s decision, when it is made, may be overridden by the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB), which has accorded NCZ status to all Aravalli lands in its Regional Plan, 2021.

Speaking to the Hindustan Times after Friday’s meeting, Makarand Pandurang, director, Haryana DTCP, said, “The principal secretary of town and country planning was unable to be present today due to other prior commitments. As such, our discussions today will be conveyed to him.”

The decision on the NCZ status of Aravalli lands has been reserved for another meeting, which will take place in 15 days. However, the location and the date for this meeting have not been notified. Pandurang added that ‘definitional issues’ arising from the NCRPB’s categorisation of the NCZ were discussed by the forest department and the DTCP on Friday. Both the parties have maintained their previous stances on the issue.

While the forest department has demanded that the ‘NCZ status yet to be decided’ category should be maintained for about 1,200 hectares of ‘bhood’ land (sandy foothills), town and country planning officials continued to recommend the exclusion of these areas from the NCZ. “As far as we are concerned, these areas should not be given NCZ status,” Pandurang said.

Another point on the meeting’s agenda was the exclusion of certain land parcels from the NCZ, which have been requested by the Haryana DTCP.

These include a 52-acre plot near Faridabad’s Sarai Khwaja village, currently in possession of a private realty firm. “A decision on these could not be taken as a survey on the ground for these places has not been carried out. That shall be done in about 15 days, just in time for our next meeting,” Pandurang said.