The National Green Tribunal was on Monday informed about shrinkage of Natural Conservation Zones (NCZ) like forests, water bodies and waste lands in the National Capital Region.
The National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) in an affidavit made submissions regarding shrinkage of such zones in Delhi, NCR, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
“The National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) perused the satellite imageries and maps which were prepared and analysed by the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) and after examining the same for all sub regions of NCR, came to the conclusion that there is shrinkage in NCZ,” the affidavit said.
It has said that NCRPRB after perusing the variations shown in the analysis acted upon the observations and sent letters to participating States seeking their response on reasons for the shrinkage.
“That the answering respondent was concerned with such shrinkage of NCZ and it issued notices on June 23 under section 29(2) of NCRPB Act 1985 to all the nodal officers (principal secretaries) of the NCR participating States but no reasons for variations of NCZ were received by any of the NCZ participating State governments,” it said.
According to NCRPB, the shrinkage of the conservation zones is 25.97 per cent in Haryana sub-region, 15.43 per cent in Delhi, 43.88 per cent in Uttar Pradesh sub-region and 11.18 per cent in Rajasthan.
The tribunal was hearing a petition filed by senior advocate Raj Panjwani, appearing for Legal Aid Committee National Green Tribunal Bar Association, against the alarming rate of depletion of NCZs in NCR. —Akanksha Jain
