Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar undertook an aerial survey of Aravali range on Monday to determine the status of actual forests existing there and find solutions to protect its ecology and the encroachments in the area.
Javadekar’s aerial survey comes amidst various speculations. According to sources in Environment Ministry, this is a step before he finalises the definition of forest to end ambiguity surrounding large tracts of privately-owned Aravali land.
Others said that many deny the presence of forest in the Aravalis , saying that there are only scrubs. They claim that these are arid areas and can have only scrub forests. The minister thuspersonally went to verify this and appreciated the fact that there are large patches of very dense forest.
Shortly after the visit Javadekar however said that the aerial survey was to find right solutions so that Aravalli’s natural beauty can be enhanced, how to achieve balanced development along with saving the environment, we also had elaborate discussions on it.
In June this year, the state government had notified around 1,700 hectares in this region, as a no construction zone. Sources, said problems have been created due to reported encroachments and illegal mining on the Aravalis. They pointed out that though most of the Aravalis is forest land, it is not on official record as such because most part of it used to be owned by Panchayat and presently large parts also owned privately.