No man’s land?

On April 1, the National Green Tribunal pulled up the ministry of environment and forests and the government of Haryana for failing to map and identify forests in the Mangar area. This includes a 740-acre sacred grove in Haryana’s Faridabad district, among the last surviving patches of native vegetation in the Aravalis. The survey has remained incomplete despite two directives from the Supreme Court (in 1996 and 2011) and news of rampant felling of trees, land grab and illegal mining/crushing in the zone.

Two days before the tribunal’s ruling, naturalist Vijay Dhasmana and high court lawyer Mukul Talwar were grievously injured after being attacked by a so-called baba and his goons in the same area. Dhasmana and Talwar had accompanied a group of birdwatchers from Delhi.

The unfortunate event may have rattled a few babus , who see nothing wrong in changing the land use in Mangar, paving the way for commercial exploitation.

Forests and agricultural tracts are both protected by statute and revenue laws. But the no man’s land between them lies unprotected, vulnerable to the greed of land-grabbers.

As the cities in the National Capital Region expand to make room for urban aspirations, thousands of acres of such uncultivable forested hills or gair mumkin pahad in Haryana face an uncertain future. The state government’s intentions are clearly underlined, for instance, by their Master Plan 2031 for Gurgaon-Manesar, Sohna and the Mangar area. But the two incidents in the past week have revived the hopes of environmentalists.

The core issue here is the delay or the absence of intent in designating bio-diverse areas. Mangar is not a stray example. Many similar tracts, including wetlands in the NCR, are being encroached upon because they are earmarked for, but not notified as sanctuaries or protected habitats. That this can happen at the nerve centre of the country makes one wonder how deep and dark the woods are elsewhere.

Assistant Editor

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