Haryana BJP MP welcomes SC’s order on amendment to land Act

Changes in the law would prove disastrous for the Aravalis, says Rao Inderjit Singh

Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit Singh.File Photo

In an embarrassment to the BJP government in Haryana, Union Minister of State for Planning (Independent Charge) and the party’s Gurugram Lok Sabha MP Rao Inderjit Singh on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court’s order preventing the State government from going ahead with the amendments in the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900, which provides protection to over 29,000 hectares of forest.

Speaking at the sidelines of a public meeting at Wazirabad village here, Mr. Singh hailed the Supreme Court order, saying that the Aravalis were very important for the region. He said the amendments in the law would prove disastrous for the Aravalis and multi-storey buildings would come up all around. He also said that the situation would be similar to villages in Delhi where lands were sold several times and tall buildings were built.

The Haryana government had on February 27 brought Punjab Land Preservation (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 2019, taking the protection cover off the Aravalis and Shivaliks in nine districts of the State. Though the government justified the amendments saying the livelihood of millions was affected as an “unintended” consequence of the law, environmentalists have accused the government of making “misleading” and “incorrect” statements to help the builders’ lobby.

The Supreme Court this past Friday threatened the Haryana government with contempt if it went ahead and implemented a new law allowing massive scale of construction in the ecologically fragile Aravali Hills.

‘Own party leader’

Forest analyst Chetan Agarwal said that it was, indeed, good to know that at least one of the public representatives from the ruling party (BJP) had the conscience to speak in favour of the Aravalis. He expressed hope that the Haryana government would listen to a senior MP from their own party representing the entire Gurugram and withdraw the Bill at the earliest.

However, it was not for the first time that Mr. Singh had been the cause of embarrassment to the State BJP government. Known for speaking his mind, Mr. Singh has not hesitated to criticise Haryana government from public platforms earlier as well. Annoyed with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for skipping a scheduled programme for the inauguration of an underpass at Hero Honda Chowk here last year, Mr. Singh had commented that he did not have much expectations from the BJP government in Haryana.