Gurugram: Hill in Aravali flattened for road to farmhouses

GURUGRAM: An entire Aravali hillock has been flattened to build an approach road for farmhouses being constructed in Bandhwari, around 1.5km off the Gurugram-Faridabad road.

It’s the second disappearance of a hill in the Gurugram section of the ranges to come to light since 2018, the same year when the Supreme Court had learned that one-fourth of the Aravali hills in neighbouring Rajasthan were gone forever.

In Haryana, despite more legal protection for these ancient ranges crucial for maintaining the ecological balance of Delhi-NCR, the wrecking ball of construction points to a similar fate.

The hill in Bandhwari vanished within a year. In the vicinity are around 50 farmhouses, some of them completed, most others in various stages of construction. The area is a natural conservation zone, and according to various orders passed by the Punjab & Haryana high court and the SC, construction is prohibited.

But with earthmovers toiling away, and water lines, tall perimeter walls and gated compounds already set up, the colonisation of the hills here already seems irreversible. Thanks to an entrenched nexus of land sharks and a few “influential” locals, villagers say farmhouses of different sizes are coming up in the area spread across 25-30 acres. Bandhwari village comes under MCG, Gurugram’s municipal corporation.”

Here, land is being sold for Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 per square yard. Developers are promising registries of land and a tubewell for each farmhouse. These developers have deployed private security guards to keep round-the-clock vigil in the area, and prospective buyers visit the farmhouse sites during the weekend. While some farmhouses are ready to move in, others are under construction,” said a villager.

Gurugram has already been marked as a “dark zone” by the Central Ground Water Authority because its groundwater is overexploited and there is ban on installation of new borewells in the district.

Harinder Dhingra, who had filed a case in the Punjab & Haryana HC seeking a ban on illegal construction and mining in the Aravalis, said that according to the court’s order, no construction work can be undertaken in Bandhwari village. “Satellite images taken three years back and those of today’s clearly show that some hills in the Aravalis have disappeared,” he told TOI. A villager said the hill was spread over five acres of land. The area now looks like a football ground but without a blade of grass on it.

In December 2018, TOI had reported that an entire hillock had made way in Raisina village for a sprawling farmhouse. Investigations were ordered subsequently, but the damage was done. Aravalis need particularly close monitoring because of the peculiar nature of land ownership that largely rests with private owners even as construction is restricted or prohibited.

Though mostly brown and rocky as they sweep along southern Haryana and Rajasthan, the Aravalis are a verdant patch in the section where the hill was. The Bandhwari area isn’t too far from the lush green Mangar section of the ranges where the eponymous forest is located.

“Bandhwari village in the Aravalis comprises gair mumkin pahar (uncultivable hill) areas, and adjacent sandy foothills known as ‘bhood’ in the revenue records. They are a key wildlife habitat and groundwater recharge area and deserve to be protected as open spaces,” said Chetan Agawal, an environment analyst.

Subdivisional officer Rajiv Yadav confirmed that the status of the land where the farmhouses are being developed, according to revenue records, is “bhood”. “Letters will be written to the mining, pollution and forest departments regarding the same,” he said.

Asked about the construction, MCG joint commissioner Sanjeev Singhla said, “We have received some complaints and a team from the civic body will visit the site soon. I have directed the team to submit a report after inspection.”

District town planner (enforcement) R S Batth assured speedy action would be taken against the project developers. “As per my knowledge, no change of land use has been granted for any farmhouse project. I will check the records and a demolition drive will be carried out in the area soon,” he said.