Rs. 1.3 cr released to conserve wildlife on Global City land; activists say not enough

An official of the district forest department, requesting anonymity, confirmed that the fund has been allocated to implement a conservation plan for the Global City project, which will be a part of the proposed Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC).

The district forest and wildlife department has received a “conservation fund” to the tune of ₹1.3 crore from the Haryana government for rehabilitating wildlife that may be displaced by its Global City project, which is scheduled to come up on over 1,000 acres near Sector 36B, straddling Pataudi and Narnaul villages.

Many officials of the wildlife and forest department in Gurugram district, however, said they are not authorised to divulge information about the project. (Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)

An official of the district forest department, requesting anonymity, confirmed that the fund has been allocated to implement a conservation plan for the Global City project, which will be a part of the proposed Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC).

“We already have an inventory of wildlife species found in the area and have drawn up a plan to mitigate the project’s impact on them. We will do this by creating underpasses on the affected land, building water holes, planting native flora species which the animals depend on and improving soil rejuvenation. A treatment centre to tend to displaced or wounded animals will also be set up,” the official said.

Wildlife officials had previously declined to submit a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the project, stating that the proposed project site is rife with wild animals, including jackals, sambar deer, porcupines, wild hares, jungle cats, monitor lizards and mongoose. In July last year, the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority said that forest and wildlife NOCs are required to complete the environmental clearance process.

District forest officer for Rohtak, Deepak Ailawadi, who is privy to the matter, said, “I am not sure who the project proponent is in the matter, but the NOCs for the project have been granted and the conservation fund has also been received from them.”

Many officials of the wildlife and forest department in Gurugram district, however, said they are not authorised to divulge information about the project. Deepak Nanda, district forest officer, Gurugram, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Local activist Vaishali Rana Chandra, who has been tracking Global City’s possible environmental impact, said, “The Haryana government does not have the power to provide NOCs for development of land which is either under the NCZ or the Aravalli Notification of 1992. A large chunk of land on the earmarked site is protected by either of these, for which approval needs to be sought from the MoEF and NCRPB respectively.” 

Chandra also pointed out that a corpus of ₹1.3 crore was a “pithy amount” which would not suffice to rehabilitate animals living over 1,000 acres of land.

The Global City project is set to be developed jointly by the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) and Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC).

In November last year, the GMDA had also sought changes to its Gurugram-Manesar Urban Complex Plan 2031, to allow a 300% floor area ratio in areas falling within the proposed Global City, to allow vertical growth of commercial and residential buildings.

“This region is also home to the Indian rock python and spectacled cobra, both of which are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act. There are also five to six other species here, such as golden jackals and Russell’s vipers, which are protected under Schedule II,” an official of the forest department said.