Khattar's Ambitious Aravali Safari Park Project And Environmental Concerns (image: x.com/abhirammodak)
Gurugram, Haryana: The Aravali Safari Park Project, presented as part of BJP’s “Non-Stop Haryana Ka Sankalp Patra” manifesto ahead of Assembly election last year, was first announced in September 2022. Inspired by Sharjah Park in UAE, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar government envisaged the 10,000-acre project to be the world’s largest safari park, aiming to promote tourism and employment for local people. However, the project has faced opposition from the environmental activists ever since it was proposed. Recently, a group of retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging to scrap the project highlighting the environmental threats raised by the project.
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Aravali Safari Park Project
Aravali mountains, one of the oldest fold mountains of the world runs diagonally across Rajasthan extending from Champaner in Gujarat in the southwest to near Delhi in the northeast for about 690 km.
The Safari Park project is being proposed in parts of Gurugram and Nuh. It was conceptualised and designed as a zoo safari and not a natural jungle safari seeing Aravalli’s vibrant green forests and wildlife. The plan proposes ten distinct zones, comprising the construction of establishments such as hotels, restaurants, guest houses, childrens’ parks, animal cages, aquarium, cable car, auditoriums, botanical gardens, and open-air theatres. The Khattar government held that the project particularly aims to generate employment opportunities for local youth and beneficial to the local communities.
The Opposing Voice
The multifold environmental concerns are raised against the project. Several retired IFS officers in the letter to PM Modi said that the “primary purpose of any intervention in an eco-sensitive zone should be ‘conservation and restoration’ and not destruction”. The officers claimed that aim of the project is to increase tourist footfall in the state and advance government and private investment in the tourism sector and conservation is not mentioned as its aim. Aside from this, vehicular traffic and construction in the ecologically sensitive area will also disturb the aquifers under the Aravalli hills that are “critical reserves for the water-starved Gurugram and Nuh.”
“The zoo safari project envisages ‘underwater zone’ in the park which may alter water levels since the area is a ‘water-scare region’. The groundwater level in Gurugram and Nuh has been categorised as ‘overexploited’ by the Central Ground Water Board,” the Officers said in the letter.
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Legal Restrictions
Majority of the Aravali hill range areas are protected under various environmental laws and by orders of the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal (NGT). The letter has also stated that the location of the park falls under the category of ‘forest’ category, wherein laws strictly prohibit deforestation, land clearing, and construction. The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 restricts the dereservation of forests or use of forest land for “non-forest purpose” and demands Central government’s prior approval in this regard.
The officers in the letter claimed that Haryana has only scanty forest cover in India, the Aravali range was the “only saving grace”, providing the major portions of its forest cover. The mining and human settlement in the area would destroy environmental balance and impede the progress of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the officers stressed.
