In the wake of reports in a section of media suggesting that the Haryana Forest Department has proposed to de-notify around 85 acres of forestland in Bhondsi village here more than a decade after its notification, environmentalists have raised strong objection to the move saying the Haryana government seems more interested in serving the commercial interests of the rich than protecting the environment.
Crisis
“The forest cover in Haryana is around 4 per cent, but the government seems least interested in protecting the forests. Instead of bringing more areas under the green cover, the Haryana government is hell bent on de-notifying the existing forestland to serve the commercial interests of a few. The recent notification of Mangar as forestland by the BJP government is insignificant and it should declare the entire Aravallis as notified forests,” said Vivek Kamboj of Haryali, a non-government organisation.
The land in question, along with another 500 acres, was transferred to the Haryana government from Bharat Yatra Kendra, which included the “farmhouse” of former Prime Minister Chandrasekhar, following a Supreme Court order in 2001.
