A large number of trees have allegedly been cut and a wall built in the forest area in the Raisina village here. Environmentalists have made a written complaint to the district authorities in this regard.
Lieutenant Colonel (retired.) Sarvadaman Oberoi, an environmentalist, has written to the Deputy Commissioner, Gurugram and the forest department officials complaining about large-scale cutting of trees in Raisina area.
An image attached with the letter shows that there was no wall on June 1, 2016 and was built subsequently.
The trees inside the four walls have been cut. Mr. Oberoi has also given the GPS readings of the area where the trees have been cut. Also, the trees seem to have been cut with a chainsaw.
Mr. Oberoi said that cutting of trees and construction in the area is prohibited under Section 4 (general) of the Punjab Land Preservation Act and the Aravalli Notification of 1992. The letter also said that it was a controlled area and the construction was prohibited without permission.
Natural Conservation Area
“This area falls in the Aravalli gair mumkin pahar and is also in the Natural Conservation Area where construction is banned. The area is a dense forest, as is apparent in the image, and thus falls in the deemed forest category, which attracts the forest conservation Act of 1980, and has been put in the forest status to be determined category by the Haryana Forest Department. The area is the subject matter of several ongoing cases in the National Green Tribunal,” said the letter.
He has demanded that the forest should be restored as it was in June last year as per law. Another environmentalist, not willing to be identified, said that several people owned farmhouses in the area and the trees were being allegedly cut in the Aravallis to clear the area.
