March to protect Aravalli forests
A large number of residents from Gurgaon, Delhi and Faridabad gathered at Kachra Chowk here on Sunday morning to take part in a rally that demanded protection of Aravalli forests in Haryana. The participants walked towards Faridabad from Kachra Chowk and back, covering about 3 km in all. They discussed the major positive developments related to the Aravallis last year, namely the identification of Mangar Bani sacred groves and the restoration of Mangar Bani buffer from 60 m to 500 m, which has led to a buffer area of about 1,100-1,200 acre. However, they felt there were several gaps in the protection of the Aravallis that need to be addressed, such as final notification of Mangar Bani and buffer, and the need to declare entire Aravallis as deemed forest and Mangar Bani as sanctuary. A large area of the Aravallis has been kept out of the National Conservation Zone (NCZ) and in the “to be determined” category, especially in Gurgaon.
The demonstrators demanded that this “to be determined” category be deleted and the entire Aravallis in Haryana be included in the NCZ. The eco-sensitive zone for the Asola-Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary must stretch to include major lakes — Damdama, Badkhal and Dhauj — and also the mining pits which have exposed groundwater.. . .
