Govt to soon launch Green Wall project to save exploited Aravallis

Hindustan Times

2 days ago

It is likely the country's oldest mountain range, spanning 670 km, and runs in a southwesterly direction from Delhi to Gujarat. It boasts 22 wildlife sanctuaries including four tiger reserves (Ranthambore is one) and bird parks. It is the source of important rivers including the Chambal. And it hosts the only primary forest in the National Capital Region, with tools from the lower Palaeolithic period (3.3 million years to 300,000 years ago) and cave art being found in the hills around the forest.
It is the Aravallis (also spelt Aaravali; literally meaning line of peaks).
Haryana doesn't really care about it though (and has fought tooth and nail to prevent calling its wilds forests); Rajasthan has lost several peaks, according to a submission in the Supreme Court; and Delhi has never really cared about it.
All that could change starting June 5, World Environment Day, when the Union government, in association with the states concerned, will launch the Aravalli Green Wall project, focused on restoring the Aravallis in Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat, according to people familiar with the matter.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to launch the Aravalli Green Wall project and Ek Ped Ma Ke Naam 2025 campaign by planting saplings at Mahavir Jayanti park in South Delhi, the people added.
The people said Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta is expected to join the PM during the launch in Delhi, while the CMs of the other three Aravalli states are also expected to begin the campaign in their states.
According to the people cited above, the project will look at large-scale landscape restoration by removal of prospis juliflora (a kind of mesquite) and planting of native species, especially in reserved forest areas under the forest departments. Trees such as the khair (Indian gum arabic), ronjh (White-barked Acacia); dhau (axlewood), pilkhan (white fig),salai (Indian frankincense), among others, are native to the belt.
Surveys by a Wildlife Institute of India (WII) team in parts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Mewat, Mahendargarh and Rewari revealed the presence of at least 10 mammalian species — common leopard, striped hyena, golden jackal, grey wolf, Indian fox, jungle cat, grey mongoose, small Indian civet, Indian crested porcupine, Indian hare, wild pig, rhesus macaque, blue-bull (Nilgai) and Indian gazelle (Chinkara). It showed forest cover in the Haryana Aravallis was very low ( 3.63%) and only exists in the form of two categories i.e open (sparse canopied forests) and scrub forests.
The Aravallis have over 300 species of birds and the Aravallis lie along the Central Asian Flyway making the range a birding hotspot. According to a report on Gurugram's Aravalli Biodiversity Park, 170 species of birds were sighted here including a few uncommon species for Delhi-NCR like Sirkeer Malkoha, Yellow-eyed Babbler, Rufous-fronted Prinia, Indian Eagle Owl and Jungle Prinia.
But the Aravallis have been destroyed by the proximity to large urban centres such as Delhi and Gurugram, quarried for stone (often illegally), and left to the mercy of village panchayats as common land with most of the states loath to define them as forests.
The Green Wall project, envisaging a green corridor from Delhi to Gujarat has been spoken off in various forms since the 1990s, although it has never been formalised.
Now, finally, the Union environment ministry has prepared a detailed project report for it with plans that drill down to the district level. The Aravalli range faces increasing threats due to deforestation, mining, grazing, and human encroachment, the action plan states.
'Forest lands around Sariska and Bardod Wildlife Sanctuaries were diverted before the 1980s, reducing its forest cover. Desertification is exacerbating as desert sands move eastward, compromising regions like Gurugram and Alwar. Mining activities have damaged aquifers, dried up lakes, and reduced the range's ability to support wildlife. The Supreme Court of India has acknowledged the importance of the Aravalli ranges in several judgments, issuing rulings to prevent mining, construction activities, and encroachment,' the executive summary of the detailed action plan for the Aravalli Green Wall states. HT has reviewed the plan.
The project proposes to establish a buffer zone covering 6.45 million hectares around the Aravalli range. Restoration will follow an integrated landscape approach, focusing on improving forest cover, restoring grasslands, managing livestock, and enhancing water systems through traditional and scientific methods.
Specific interventions will include planting native species in degraded forests, fostering savannah-like ecosystems in grasslands, and utilising water conservation techniques to restore grasslands and preserve moisture, the plan states, adding that key focus areas include wildlife corridors, and water catchments. Community institutions, civil society organisations, and state agencies will collaborate to implement it.
Based on satellite analysis, the total treatable area is about 2.70 million ha according to the plan. In the first phase the priority areas for intervention will be forest areas with vegetation degradation, followed by forest areas affected by water erosion, the plan adds.
'Given the scarcity of land it would be better to target the forest area with high levels of degradation and conserve and protect forests which are showing signs of degradation,' the plan states. In Delhi for instance, the first phase will involve treatment of Recorded Forest Area in Delhi which is limited to South Delhi covering 3,010.39 ha. In Haryana, it will be on treatment of Recorded Forest Area in Haryana which is 24,990.16 ha across Bhiwani, Mahendragarh, Gurugram, Faridabad and Rewari.
The plan recommends the planting of 42 local species in Delhi. These include: Khair (Indian Gum Arabic), Ronjh (White-barked Acacia), Desi Babool (Gum Arabic), Bael Patra (Wood Apple), Dhau (Axlewood), Neem, Amaltas (Golden Shower), Goolar (Cluster Fig), and Peepal (Sacred Fig).
'As per nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement, India aims to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through improving forest and tree cover and, under its commitment to Bonn Challenge, aims to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030. So this project is critical in order to achieve those goals,' one of the people said.
'The Aravallis have defined the landscapes of northern India. They have crafted the drainage pattern in large parts of northern India. The forests, grasslands and wetlands of Aravallis are uniquely placed to harbour great diversity. We have several national parks and sanctuaries in the larger Aravallis landscapes. The existence of several cities such as Gurugram, Alwar, Jaipur and many more is possible due to the surface water provided and groundwater recharged. We have brilliant forests of Dhok, Dhak, Salar, Jaal, Kaim and savannah and grasslands of several kinds that are very important for the biodiversity of the region,' said Vijay Dhasmana, curator of Aravalli Biodiversity Park and eco-restoration expert.
'The Aravallis are among the oldest fold-mountain ranges. Delhi is at the extreme end of the range and we know that local species are lost. As the name suggests, the government is keen to develop Aravallis as the green wall against desertification. If the local ecology is restored naturally wildlife of this region can be revived. We have found significant potential and highlighted that Haryana Aravallis have hyenas, leopards, wolves, other small cat species and a rich diversity of birds,' said Bilal Habib, scientist, WII.
'Effective restoration will require zoning protection and declaring entire Aravallis as legal forests. For example, in NCR, the current Regional Plan 2021 has a Natural Conservation Zone that virtually bans real estate construction in the Aravallis with a 0.5% limit on construction. This must be kept in the 2041 Regional Plan for NCR. Similarly in Gurugram and Faridabad, more than 50% of the Aravallis are outside the Recorded Forest Area (RFA) in a forest status to be decided category. These must be declared as deemed forests as per dictionary meaning, so they get protection under the Forest Conservation Act,' said Chetan Agarwal, a forest analyst based in Gurugram.