Haryana laxity holds up Asola Bhatti green shield

GURGAON: The finalisation of the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around Asola Bhatti wildlife sanctuary on the Delhi-Gurgaon border is on hold because the Haryana government has failed to submit a detailed proposal for demarcation of ESZ in Gurgaon and Faridabad districts. Despite repeated reminders by the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEF&CC) regarding the Delhi government proposal, the Haryana forest department has failed to produce the required map with geo-coordinates of the area identified as ESZ, leading to delay in final notification.
The Haryana government had proposed a 100m area around the sanctuary’s boundary as eco-sensitive zone in Gurgaon, and an area ranging between 100m and 1km from the boundary as ESZ in Faridabad. The proposal was forwarded to MoEF&CC in June 2016.
MoEF&CC wrote back to the state government, describing the proposal as incomplete, and demanded adequate justification for the huge fluctuations in the proposed boundary. “The justification should be clear,” read the letter by MoEF&CC, which also said Asola ESZ declaration is delayed as the government has failed to send the correct map and geo-coordinates.
“Consent of two states — Haryana and Delhi — is required to create the sanctuary’s buffer zone. We’ve received the complete notifications from Delhi, while Haryana‘s proposal is missing geo-coordinates and a verified map,” said Vinod Joon, director, MoEF&CC.
The claim was disputed by the forest department, which said it has submitted the proposal. “The proposal was submitted in June 2016,” said conservator of forest (wildlife) Rambir Singh.
The ESZ demarcation was initiated following a Supreme Court directive on December 4, 2006 to state governments, over a PIL by Goa Foundation, asking for areas around protected wildlife areas to be declared as ESZs. A series of SC rulings followed, all of which suggested a radius of 10km around boundaries of national parks and sanctuaries to be notified as ESZs. Following this, MoEF&CC issued a guideline for declaration of ESZ on February 9, 2011.
The NCT’s sole protected area, Asola Bhatti wildlife sanctuary is spread over 32.71 sq km in south-eastern Delhi, bordering Gurgaon and Faridabad.
On June 20, 2015, the Haryana chief wildlife warden had set up a panel, including the divisional wildlife officer and district forest officer of Gurgaon, and the deputy conservator of forest of Faridabad, to suggest the extent of ESZ in Haryana. The committee submitted its report in October 2015, recommending an area ranging between 100m and 1km from the sanctuary boundary. But the state has not submitted the documents proving the proposal was approved.
Advocate Sanjeev Aliawadi, who’s RTI query exposed the logjam over the ESZ, said delay in notification of the ESZ is impacting growth and development of Faridabad, Gurgaon and NCR.