Form Aravalli task force to curb rising offences: Activists

Citizen groups and environmentalists have intensified calls for the urgent formation of an Aravalli Protection Force in the wake of repeated forest fires, rampant illegal dumping, and unchecked environmental destruction across the Aravallis.

- Leena Dhankhar

GURUGRAM: Their demand gained fresh urgency after devastating fires on Saturday gutted over 70 acres of forest land, threatening critical wildlife corridors supporting at least 32 leopards, according to the Wildlife Institute of India's 2017 report.

Following the incidents, environmentalists met Haryana forest minister Rao Narbir Singh on Sunday. Singh agreed to call a meeting with concerned officials and committed to restarting the long-pending Aravalli Task Force. "This is the prime concern, and we will set up a new and active committee in May," Singh said. "I will form a team of forest and wildlife department officials to conduct a survey and submit a report based on which the Aravalli Task Force will be formed. The team will be responsible for any damage, illegal mining or any loss to wildlife," he added.

The crisis deepened earlier on April 15 when a Central Empowered Committee (CEC) report to the Supreme Court indicted local officials for serious environmental violations in Nuh district. The report revealed that a 1.5-kilometer illegal road had been brazenly constructed through Basai Meo village using heavy machinery, cutting through notified forest and agricultural lands without mandatory clearances under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, and the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900.