ChandigarhHaryana government’s proposed Aravalli Jungle Safari is facing legal challenges, with a petition being filed before the Supreme Court citing its possible adverse impact on the ecosystem of the forest.
In an application filed before a special bench dealing exclusively with environment and forest matters, the petitioners – Gurugram-based environmental activists Vaishali Rana, Vivek Kamboj and Roma Jaswal – have contended that the Aravallis are home to a diverse ecosystem that potentially may be in danger. Because of this step.
“The Aravalli Hills, one of the oldest mountain ranges on Earth, are major landforms shaping West Indian climate and biodiversity. The Aravalli with its lush forests used to act as a green barrier and an effective shield against desertification,” said the petition, which was mentioned by Gaurav Bansal, counsel for the petitioners, before the bench on Wednesday. did.
The petition states that Haryana has invited “Expression of Interest” for the development of a Biodiversity Park for Safari, which is envisaged on 10,000 acres of forest land spread across Haryana’s Gurugram and Nuh districts.
An SC bench headed by Justice BR Gavai asked the petitioners to submit a copy of the petition to the court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC), a panel of experts that considers projects in ecologically fragile areas and makes recommendations.
Advocate Gaurav Bansal told ThePrint that the application was mentioned when the court was hearing another petition on jungle safaris in the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand.
The legal challenge to the proposed project comes a day after Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lay its foundation stone. The date of the ceremony has not been decided yet.
When contacted for comment, Haryana Tourism Principal Secretary MD Sinha said the state government has not yet received any notice, but declined to comment further, saying the matter was “subjudice”. “Whatever we have to say, we will say alone in the court,” he said.
The Haryana government is planning to execute the proposed Aravalli Jungle Safari in three phases.
As per the proposal, the safari will be developed like a Biodiversity Park and aims to “establish local/native flora and fauna; To improve the overall soil water regime to preserve and enrich the ecology; groundwater recharge; improving habitat for wildlife; buffer-local weather; act as a sink for CO2 and other pollutants; protect the natural heritage of the region; To promote environmental awareness among the public and students; act as a living laboratory; and providing entertainment value to the public”, according to a report dated 5 July Indian Express,
‘Massive change will damage ecosystem’
The 690 kilometer long Aravalli range runs diagonally and extends through Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi. Due to its geography, it hosts a unique biodiversity. According to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change’It has a “mixture of Saharan, Ethiopian, Peninsular, Eastern and even Malayan elements of flora and fauna”, documenting other effective area-based conservation measures.
The Haryana government’s plan for jungle safari includes a large herpetarium (a zoological exhibition space for reptiles and amphibians), a bird park, four areas for big cats, a large area for herbivores, one for exotic animals and birds. area, contains an underwater world. As of 30 September 2022, nature trails, visitor areas and botanical gardens, among other things Indian Express Report.
In their petition against the proposal, environmentalists Rana, Kamboj and Jaswal have said that the Aravalli is home to a wide range of wildlife and plant species, including tigers, leopards, wolves, blackbucks, chinkaras and desert foxes.
According to the petition, it is also rich in minerals such as zinc, gold, silver, copper ore and lead, as well as construction materials such as marble and limestone.
The petition states that rapid deforestation and development activities are already destroying the unique landscape of the forest. It added that the construction activities proposed in the “Expression of Interest” would not only harm the ecology, biological diversity, flora and environment of the range, but would also completely destroy the wildlife.
The plea states that any disruption and disturbance to the natural order would lead to large-scale changes in the areas adjacent to the North Indian plains and would be disastrous for the environment, affecting eastern Rajasthan, Haryana, Malwa region, western Uttar Pradesh. And Delhi will be affected.
(Edited by Uttara Ranaswamy)