Save the Aravallis

Vandalisation of the hills can lead to disaster

A study by the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has found that unrestrained deforestation of the Aravalli range of hills is eroding its capability to serve as a green barrier to the expansion of the Thar Desert towards Delhi and Haryana. 

This is a serious matter that merits urgent remedial action. Increased desertification of the National Capital Region (NCR) and its adjoining areas can pose environmental and other hazards, some of which may be difficult to surmount. In fact, many of the detrimental effects of the loss of vegetative cover of the Aravallis are already in evidence in the NCR. 

These include more dust in the air, greater unpredictability of climate, meagre recharging of groundwater, and drying up of several natural water bodies like the Surajkund and Badkhal lakes near Faridabad. The area under perennial water courses in this region has contracted by nearly one-third and that under seasonal water flows by an even more alarming 97 per cent. Groundwater resources of the rapidly growing urban hub of Gurugram are under severe strain.

The Thar Desert is known for its natural drift towards the northwest. The NCR and the highly fertile plains of northwest India have escaped swamping by the desert, thanks chiefly to the nearly 700 km long range of Aravalli hills and their thick forest cover. This protective belt is now facing disintegration due to felling of trees to make room for urbanisation and mining projects. 

The WII study has spotted about a dozen well-marked gaps in the Aravallis where the forest cover has almost totally vanished. The area under human settlements on these hills has expanded from 247 square kilometres (sq km) in 1980 to 638 sq km in 2016. Industries, which were almost non-existent in 1980, now occupy about 46 sq km. Such vandalisation of the Aravallis bodes ill even for the biodiversity of the region that harbours a large variety of plant, animal and bird species. Besides, the Aravallis constitute a vital corridor between the Asola Bhatti sanctuary in Delhi and the Sariska tiger reserve in Rajasthan. The areas around Faridabad and Gurugram serve as leopard habitat as well. 

With such being the ecological value of the Aravalli hills, it seems strange that the stakeholder states are dilly-dallying over taking decisive action to stop and, more so, reverse the damage. Haryana is a typical case in this regard. The state government is seeking to dispute what consists Aravallis with the clear intention of restricting remedial action to stretches in Gurugram alone. It cites the notification issued by the environment ministry in May 1992 in support of its plea. This notification had applied only to Gurugram and the Alwar district of Rajasthan. The stand is hard to justify since rejuvenation action is needed in the whole of the Aravallis. 

The National Conservation Zone (NCZ), as defined in the Delhi NCR Regional Plan 2021, also covers the entire Aravalli range, including its forests, water bodies and groundwater recharge areas. In this zone, construction is allowed only on 0.5 per cent of the area and that too only for regional parks and sanctuaries. Construction for commercial, residential, tourism and real estate purposes is strictly barred. Haryana’s non-cooperation in respecting the NCZ can prove costly for it as well as its neighbours.