Why in news?
A study found that deforestation of the Aravalli range leads to the expansion of the Thar Desert towards Delhi and Haryana.
What is the present state of Aravalli range?
- Recent study spotted about a dozen well-marked gaps in the Aravallis where the forest cover has almost totally vanished.
- The protective belt is now facing disintegration due to felling of trees to make room for urbanisation and mining projects.
- The area under human settlements on these hills has expanded from 247 sq km in 1980 to 638 sq km in 2016.
- Industries, which were almost non-existent in 1980, now occupy about 46 sq km.
What are the actions taken for conservation of Aravallis?
- The National Conservation Zone (NCZ), as defined in the Delhi NCR Regional Plan 2021, covers the entire Aravalli range.
- It includes its forests, water bodies and groundwater recharge areas.
- In this zone, construction is allowed only on 0.5 per cent of the area and that too only for regional parks and sanctuaries.
- Construction for commercial, residential, tourism and real estate purposes is strictly barred.
What are the concerns with conservation policies?
- The stakeholder states shows indecisiveness towards stopping or reversing the damage being done to the range.
- Haryana state government raises a dispute over demarcation of aravalli range in its state, citing the notification issued by the environment ministry.
- It is done with the clear intention of restricting remedial action to stretches in Gurugram alone.
- The stand is hard to justify since rejuvenation action is needed in the whole of the Aravallis.
- Haryana’s non-cooperation in respecting the NCZ can prove costly for it as well as its neighbours.
What are the impacts of degrading Aravallis?
- Loss of vegetative cover will lead to the natural drifting of Thar Desert towards the northwest.
- Increased desertification of the National Capital Region (NCR) and its adjoining areas can lead to more environmental hazards.
- These include more dust in the air, greater unpredictability of climate, meagre recharging of groundwater, and drying up of several natural water bodies.
- The area under perennial water courses in this region has contracted by nearly one-third and that under seasonal water flows by an even more alarming 97 per cent.
- Groundwater resources of urban hub of Gurugram are under severe strain.
Quick Recap
Aravalli Range
- It is a range of mountains running in North West direction between Delhi and Palanpur in Gujarat.
- It constitutes a vital corridor between Asola Bhatti Sanctuary in Delhi and Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan.
- The 700km long range and its thick forest cover protects National Captial Region and fertile plains of India from effects of Desert.
Source: Business Standard
