'Aravalis' not in new draft NCR 2041 plan, Haryana wanted 'hills' gone too

‘Aravalis’ not in new draft NCR 2041 plan, Haryana wanted ‘hills’ gone too

NEW DELHI: After the term “Aravalis” was dropped and replaced with “hills” in the draft National Capital Region (NCR) Plan 2041 prepared by the NCR Planning Board (NCRPB), the Haryana government had insisted on doing away with the term “hills” as well, details of the agenda circulated among states for the NCRPB meeting scheduled on Tuesday have revealed.

TOI has learnt that after draft minutes of the last NCRPB meeting in October 2021 were issued, the state government had sought changes in the final minutes and written to the board more than once. But the NCRPB and the housing and urban affairs ministry did not yield.

The draft plan eventually put in public domain contained the terms “mountains and hills” to determine what constitutes a “natural zone”. Sources said the term “mountain” was added after taking opinion from the School of Planning and Architecture.

But the inclusion of “mountains” has done little to assuage concerns of Aravali watchers once the term itself is gone. The “Aravalis” are protected by laws like the Aravali Notification and various Supreme Court orders. “Mountains and hills”, however, is unknown territory, one fraught with concerns about dilution of legal layers that protect the ancient ranges.

“Natural zones”, for which this nomenclature is being used, are a concern by themselves. They are a modification of “natural conservation zone (NCZ)”, and NCRPB’s proposal to change this nomenclature has run into opposition from within the government too. According to the board’s agenda details, the Union environment ministry had backed restoration of the term NCZ in the regional plan in place of “natural zone”. Most of the objections to the plan from citizens were also against scrapping of NCZ.

NCZs, by definition, make conservation of a notified area mandatory and current rules governing it allow construction in only a 0.5% area of an NCZ. There is no such specification for a “natural zone”.

Both in the 2001 and 2021 regional plans, the NCRPB had demarcated environmentally sensitive areas such as the extension of the Aravali ridge, forest areas, rivers and tributaries, sanctuaries, major lakes and water bodies as NCZs.
‘Aravalis’ not in new draft NCR 2041 plan, Haryana wanted ‘hills’ gone tooThe first draft of the Regional Plan 2041 also mentioned NCZ. Sources said after getting feedback from states, particularly Haryana, NCZs were replaced with “natural zone”. The draft proposed that such zones would consist of any natural features such as mountains and hills, rivers and waterbodies created by nature.

It further described “natural features” as those notified for preservation or conservation under relevant central or state laws and recognised as such in land records over time. This would include forests notified under the Forest (Conservation) Act, wildlife sanctuaries notified under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, eco-sensitive zones, wetlands and conservation areas notified under the Environment Protection Act, 1986. “The above Acts shall be applicable as amended from time-to-time, along with the notifications issued thereunder and will be applied subject to various judgments of the Supreme Court, high courts and NGT, as applicable,” the draft read.

Most of the Aravalis happens to be revenue land that comes under the revenue department, and not the forest department.

Sources said the Haryana government also wanted the reference to the NGT and court orders to be done away with, but the board did not agree.

Environmentalists said the proposed Regional Plan 2041 has deleted critical environmental safeguards from the Regional Plan 2021. “It seems that the primary zoning regulation for NCZ — the limit on construction of 0.5% and that too only for regional recreational activities like wildlife sanctuaries and regional parks in the 2021 plan — has been omitted from the new proposed Regional Plan 2041. Without the zoning restrictions on construction, the NCZ (or NZ) is toothless and meaningless and mere language,” said Chetan Agarwal, an independent forest analyst.