Gurgaon: Weeks after a hill was flattened in the Mangar forest landscape, another alleged violation has surfaced inside its most protected pocket. A road is now being laid through the core area of Mangar Bani — Haryana’s ecologically significant sacred grove — despite multiple legal safeguards, reigniting concerns over repeated attempts to alter one of Aravalis’ most fragile forest ecosystems.A TOI visit on Saturday found heaps of stone aggregates spread along a forest track and stacks of interlocking paver blocks inside the forest, indicating that construction was underway in the core zone. Local residents said forest guards stopped the work on Friday evening, but it resumed next morning.
Heaps of stone were found spread along a forest track. The episode marks the third reported instance this year of alleged ecological damage in the Mangar landscape
“The road is being constructed from the valley in Mangar Bani to the temple in the hills. Work was stopped on Friday evening, but resumed again on Saturday morning,” said Harender Nagar, a villager.Forest officials said no permission had been granted for any construction inside the protected forest. Divisional forest officer Jhalkar Uyake said the department would seize the construction material. “The material will be seized and action will be taken in keeping with law,” he added.Conservator of forests (south Haryana) Raj Kumar also said action would be initiated against those responsible.The latest episode marks the third reported instance this year of alleged ecological damage in the Mangar landscape.
Forest officials said no permission had been granted for any construction inside the protected forest
In Feb, the forest department halted the construction of a concrete road in another part of the notified Mangar Bani area and its 500-metre buffer after environmentalists complained that it violated the Forest (Conservation) Act, Haryana govt’s 2016 notification protecting Mangar Bani and its buffer, and the Aravali Notification, 1992. Though the work was stopped, conservationists demanded removal of the already concretised stretch.Then, on July 1, environmentalists pointed out that a portion of a hill had been flattened inside the Mangar forest landscape, alleging unauthorised land breaking in the Aravalis.The repeated violations have surfaced despite clear judicial directions to protect the landscape. In Lt Col Sarvadaman Singh Oberoi (retd) vs Union of India & Others, National Green Tribunal directed Haryana govt to act against unauthorised tree felling, land breaking and other non-forest activities in forest areas, including gair mumkin pahar, recognised as deemed forests under notifications issued under the Punjab Land Preservation Act and the Supreme Court’s TN Godavarman Thirumulpad judgment.Spread across 4,262 acres, including about 3,810 acres of hill terrain, Mangar is among the richest biodiversity pockets in NCR. At its heart lies the 677-acre Mangar Bani, regarded as the region’s last surviving sacred grove and possibly its only remaining patch of primary forest.The area has repeatedly come under judicial scrutiny. In 2013, NGT restrained fencing, fragmentation and any change in the nature of land at Mangar. In 2016, it rejected claims that parts of the area were agricultural after a joint survey found dense forest cover, observing that much of the land fell within the Mangar Bani core and its 500-metre buffer. The same year, the state govt declared both the grove and its buffer a no-construction zone.Protected for centuries because of its religious significance, Mangar Bani is home to native dhok forests, over 240 bird species and more than 20 mammal species, besides serving as a crucial wildlife corridor connecting the southern Aravalis with Asola Bhatti wildlife sanctuary.“The latest road construction has once again raised questions over enforcement in a landscape that enjoys multiple layers of legal and judicial protection but continues to witness repeated attempts at altering its ecology,” said Oberoi.
