Indian Cities Are Quickly Losing Green Cover And Gurugram Is Next In Line. God Save The Green!

A country that has a billion dollar film industry, which is known for showing couples romancing around trees, may soon find it hard to find places where the Romeos and Juilets can sing ballads of love. Deforestation is rampant across the country and the places which used to have green covers to supply ample oxygen for the living beings are being cleared mercilessly. Amid the debate of development and deforestation, the biggest loser is the people who depend on natural sources of fresh air.

With the onset of winters, the air quality in Delhi NCR has reached to hazardous levels and the residents have begun their yearly practising of blaming farmers in Punjab and Haryana who burn their paddy stubble behind this mess.

But, most don¡¯t have a clue about the 380-acre lush green Aravali Biodiversity Park- perhaps the only green patch of land left in the main city Gurgaon being compromised in the name decongesting the infamous Gurugram-Delhi traffic.

Vijay Dhasmana

Therefore, if the plan gets executed, Gurugram will lose its last lung in the name of developing infrastructure to help people travel smoothly.

What¡¯s the project?

The Times of India

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has been mulling to build two highways to decongest traffic. The two projects- from Ambience Mall to Aya Nagar on Gurgaon-Mehrauli road and another from Vasant Kunj to Ayanagar on Gurgaon-Mehrauli road-are likely to cut through the park which will destroy the serene forest oasis located between the swanky concrete ghetto.

The Park was made forest by people

A decade back, the Aravali Biodiversity Park was a stone quarry. But various citizen groups mainly an NGO, 'Iamgurgaon' with the help Municipal Corporation, Gurugram and score of ecologists and naturalists joined hands and turned this otherwise barren piece of Aravali into a forest housing a variety of flora and fauna.

¡°Highways never decongest traffic. Instead, an efficient network of city roads needs to be focused upon. This will not only sabotage the green patch and add to the already high particulate matter but will also not give people any relief from traffic chaos,¡± said Amit Bhatt, Director, Integrated Urban Transport, WRI India Sustainable Cities.

Home to a variety of flora and fauna

The 380-acre sprawling park is used by the residents to provide their lungs for some fresh air in this other highly polluted city. The group of cyclists can be seen paddling their weights ups and down the small hills.

Aravali Utsav

Vijay Dhasmana, an ecologist who set up a nursery inside the park with help of NGO ¡®Iamgurgaon¡¯ and others associated the rise of this piece of land into a deemed forest have criticised the move.

Dhasmana shared a map of the proposed roads bisecting the part along with a post on social media showcasing the hazards if the proposed project go ahead.

The park over a period of time has become a lush green forest with hardly any human interference in its development. It¡¯s home to more than 400 plant species (220 native flora species of Aravali introduced in last 8 years), about 182 bird species reported and home to nilgai, jackal, civets, porcupines and several reptile species.

A Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin was also reportedly seen in the park two months ago.

A great source of water-recharge

There have been several reports that Gurugram will go waterless in less than a decade. Some reports have cited that it will go waterless as early as 2020. The various water-recharging scheme started by the government have failed as the water level is going down each year. The Biodiversity Park is one big chunk of land left where the natural course of water-recharging hasn¡¯t been disturbed or sabotaged by rapid construction. If estimates are anything to go by, during the average rainfall, the park can help the water table of the city with close to 20 crore litres of water yearly.

A deemed forest

Though Haryana government doesn¡¯t recognise it as a forest, the park fulfils all criteria of a deemed forest. Days back, the SC has lambasted the Rajasthan government and asked about the 30 hills on Aravali range which have disappeared over a period of time and fate of this park is likely to go that way.

Aravali Utsav

RP Balwan, the former conservator of forests, Gurugram, told HT: ¡°It¡¯s a wrong perception that Aravallis are not forests. The Biodiversity Park is rich in variety, provides ecological services to NCR (National Capital Region) and is also a groundwater recharge site. The Ridge vegetation of the Aravallis is present here and supports a large number of birds and animals. the government should notify it as forest.¡±

Possible alternatives

Providing alternative is far more difficult than criticising any project and this one too requires an alternative because massive traffic chaos is a reality between Gurugram and Delhi.

¡°Alternatives can be found out within the existing infrastructure. Traffic is inversely proportional to demand-supply rule. The more infrastructure, the bigger it will get and an alternative won¡¯t be required if the existing infrastructure is utilised wisely,¡± added Amit.

¡°Roughly 70 per cent of the traffic that runs between Delhi and Gurugram has single occupancy. If the government put some restriction on usage of vehicles coupled with the other mechanism like more buses that specially cater to the people travelling between Delhi and Gurugram, the problem to a greater extent can be addressed within the given infrastructure. Frankly saying, these projects are no alternative,¡± explained Bhatt.