1,000 trees axed in a week in Aravali village

GURUGRAM: More than 1,000 trees have been felled in the past one week in Kot village of the Aravalis, activists have pointed out to the forest department. Around 20 acres in the area, which is just 4km from the protected Mangar Bani grove, have been cleared in violation of the Punjab Land Preservation Act.
Section 4 of the Act prohibits any kind of tree felling in the entire region.
Activists said that during a visit to the area a couple of days ago, they had found many stumps of desi and vilayati kikar and kadim.“It seems that tree cutting is no longer an offence in the Aravalis. If this goes on, the entire area will soon be cleared of trees,” said Suni Harsana, an environmentalist who visited the area after receiving complaints of tree felling.
In another part of Kot village, which is close to Faridabad city, the Supreme Court has ordered the demolition of 10,000 houses over environmental concerns. This area, where the trees are being felled, is closer to Mangar Bani, where the Haryana government has announced a 500-metre buffer zone.
Harsana explained that the forest area was being cleared so that the land is considered for “chakbandi”, which is a process of pooling small plots and then allocating them to villagers who have documents to show they had ancestral land. “If there are trees on a particular patch of land, it cannot be allotted by the government under Section 4 of the PLPA. So, these villagers are clearing the area so that there are no trees and chakbandi can be done,” he added.
According to environment analyst Chetan Aggarwal, this area is called “shamlat”, a common village land that does not belong to any individual. “The government should be careful about not allotting any ‘shamlat’ land for privatisation. It should have a record of trees and forests so that even if it is cleared, such land isn’t allotted later,” he added.
The activists, who have been working for years to save the Aravali green cover, said the forest department should identify the violators at the earliest. Once allotted, many of these villagers are known to sell the land to interested parties from the cities. This often gives rise to illegal farmhouses in forested areas.
“Large scale cutting of trees and levelling of hills are an opportunity for illegal farmhouses to crop up in the area,” said Jitender Bhadana, a resident of Faridabad.
The forest department said they had increased patrolling in the area. Raj Kumar, the district forest officer in Faridabad, said, “Yes, we got information on Saturday about the felling of trees in the area. We are taking strict action against the violators. I have already increased the number of personnel patrolling in the area.”