While The World Pledged To Plant One Trillion Trees, Haryana Is Busy Destroying Aravalli
You know things are really bad when a notorious climate change denier and conspiracy theorist like US President Donald Trump signs up to combat climate change by planting trees.?
In what came as a surprise to many, Trump told a crowd at the Davos World Economic Forum that the US will join the one trillion trees initiative to restore and conserve one trillion trees around the world.
But back home in India, it is business as usual, at least in Haryana, the state with the lowest forest cover in the country.
Despite the Supreme Court making it clear last year the 'Haryana government "will be in trouble if you touch the forest" Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has said earlier this week that he stands by the Punjab Land Preservation (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 2019, which would open up the Aravallis to non-forest activity.
The government had defended the move claiming that the circumstances have changed and if the act is not passed the many constructions would face demolition.Aravalli forests in south Haryana are Gurugram, Faridabad is also referred to as the green lungs of NCR and is the only forest in the region.?
Environmentalist and residents argue that opening-up the Aravallis for construction will lead to large scale mining and other activities that will alter the ecological balance of the region.
They also allege that the government has turned its eyes away from the rampant illegal encroachments and felling of trees in Aravallis.As late as last week, more than 1,000 trees were illegally cut and forest land encroached upon for the construction of a colony on 15 acres at Behalpa village on Damdama road.?
On Sunday, environmentalists and residents took out a symbolic funeral procession of Aravallis in an attempt to bring attention to the rampant encroachment and tree cuttings. They also demanded a rollback of the PLPA.?
They marched from Sikanderpur metro station to MG Road metro station holding a symbolic ĄŽcorpseĄ¯ of the Aravallis and demanded immediate withdrawal of the Act and protection of the forest cover in the region.?
Earlier this month, a report by the Forest Survey of India 2019 showed that the state had diverted 15.29 sq km of forest land, or nearly 1% of its total forest cover, for non-forestry purposes.?
Ą°In Haryana, during the period January 1, 2015, to February 5, 2019, a total of 1,529 hectares (15.29 sq km) of forest land was diverted for non-forestry purposes under the Forest Conservation Act (FCA), 1980,Ąą it said.?
Of the 21 districts, Gurugram lost 0.82 square kilometres of forest cover between 2015 and 2017, more than any other district.In Gurgaon alone, 10,329 trees were felled in 2018-19, and over 10,357 trees were cut in 2019-20.
