Mangar loses 500 trees in brazen land-grab bid
GURGAON:
The Mangarbani grove in the Aravalis has lost at least 500 trees to
what forest officers say is one of the most brazen attempts ever made to
illegally capture its land and possibly use it for real estate.
The encroachers moved in with heavy machinery and managed to clear nearly an acre of forest area adjoining the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road, the patch under siege barely metres away from the Mangar police post that apparently had no clue about what was going on.
Although the Haryana government has agreed to mark a radius of 500 metres around Mangarbani a 'no-construction zone', this shows how encroachers continue to freely snip at its forest wealth.
MD Sinha, conservator of forest, Gurgaon circle, inspected the area on Tuesday and said he had written to the joint commissioner of police highlighting the planned manner in which the encroachment was executed. "This is one of the biggest attempts of encroachment in Mangarbani," Sinha told TOI.
Another senior forest official added, "Around 5 JCBs and several trucks were used to level the land and cut trees. Yet, the local police had no idea. It's very surprising." The divisional forest officer of the area has recently been transferred and a new officer is yet to join.
Among trees that were chopped are the Vilayati kikar and Prospis juliflora. Limestone powder was used to demarcate the area for cutting of trees. The land in question is in Mangar village and belongs to private owners but chopping of trees is prohibited here through a 2013 National Green Tribunal order that directed the Haryana government to ensure no "non-forest" activity is carried out in forest areas of the three Aravali villages of Kot, Mangar and Roz-ka-Gujjar.
"With the help of revenue officials, we have identified the land owners and FIRs will be registered against them," Sinha said, adding the forest department will also approach the NGT for a contempt of court case.
Jitendra Bhadana of Save Aravali, who first raised the alarm on the latest encroachment attempt, said, "I have seen cutting of trees and levelling of land on the left side of the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road in Mangar village opposite the HP petrol pump." He added, "The land mafia was digging up the land and chopping trees for a couple of days using big machinery. They have made a 200-metre pathway inside the forest."
He was also concerned that if areas near the main road were not being spared, encroachments in more remote areas would completely go under the radar. Police said they had received a complaint from the forest department and were investigating
The encroachers moved in with heavy machinery and managed to clear nearly an acre of forest area adjoining the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road, the patch under siege barely metres away from the Mangar police post that apparently had no clue about what was going on.
Although the Haryana government has agreed to mark a radius of 500 metres around Mangarbani a 'no-construction zone', this shows how encroachers continue to freely snip at its forest wealth.
MD Sinha, conservator of forest, Gurgaon circle, inspected the area on Tuesday and said he had written to the joint commissioner of police highlighting the planned manner in which the encroachment was executed. "This is one of the biggest attempts of encroachment in Mangarbani," Sinha told TOI.
Another senior forest official added, "Around 5 JCBs and several trucks were used to level the land and cut trees. Yet, the local police had no idea. It's very surprising." The divisional forest officer of the area has recently been transferred and a new officer is yet to join.
Among trees that were chopped are the Vilayati kikar and Prospis juliflora. Limestone powder was used to demarcate the area for cutting of trees. The land in question is in Mangar village and belongs to private owners but chopping of trees is prohibited here through a 2013 National Green Tribunal order that directed the Haryana government to ensure no "non-forest" activity is carried out in forest areas of the three Aravali villages of Kot, Mangar and Roz-ka-Gujjar.
"With the help of revenue officials, we have identified the land owners and FIRs will be registered against them," Sinha said, adding the forest department will also approach the NGT for a contempt of court case.
Jitendra Bhadana of Save Aravali, who first raised the alarm on the latest encroachment attempt, said, "I have seen cutting of trees and levelling of land on the left side of the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road in Mangar village opposite the HP petrol pump." He added, "The land mafia was digging up the land and chopping trees for a couple of days using big machinery. They have made a 200-metre pathway inside the forest."
He was also concerned that if areas near the main road were not being spared, encroachments in more remote areas would completely go under the radar. Police said they had received a complaint from the forest department and were investigating
No comments:
Post a Comment