Aravalis Region Expanded to Entire NCR

A government panel has approved that all non-cultivable hill land, rocky and sandy areas in the ecologically sensitive Aravalis in the entire National Capital Region (NCR) will be treated as part of the mountain range. This will also include all land notified under the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA).  In a meeting, chaired by Union urban development secretary Rajiv Gauba and attended by

representatives of the forest ministry and officials from Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan, it was decided that NCR Planning Board (NCRPB) would formally redefine Aravalis based on the already laid-down parameters of the 1992 notification.

At present, these conditions are applicable only to Gurgaon and Alwar districts in the NCR in line with a 1992 notification of environment and forest ministry (MoEF).

TOI in April 2014 had first flagged how the Haryana government had routinely referred to this notification to justify that Faridabad had not been covered and, hence, the state had greater liberty to allow non-forest activities.

This will put an end to all confusion, indiscriminate clearances and approvals.

The panel had also decided that the norms to regulate development in natural conservation zone (NCZ) will be according to the rules notified in 2005. The 2005 notification treats the entire Aravalis as NCZ where construction is not allowed beyond 0.5% of the area.

This will have huge impact on protecting the ecology of entire region.