Retired IFS officers oppose Aravali Safari Park project due to environmental concerns, urges PM for conservation over destruction

Retired Indian Forest Service officers oppose Aravali Safari Park project, citing conservation concerns in eco-sensitive zone.

Several retired Indian Forest Service officers from across the country have sent a representation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi opposing the 10,000-acre Aravali Safari Park project proposed in parts of Gurugram and Nuh, saying that the “primary purpose of any intervention in an eco-sensitive zone should be ‘conservation and restoration’ and not destruction”.

The Aravali Safari Park to promote tourism was one of the promises made by the Bharatiya Janata Party in its manifesto, titled “Non-Stop Haryana Ka Sankalp Patra”, released ahead of the Assembly poll last year.

The six-page missive by IFS (retired) Uma Shanker Singh and endorsed by 30-odd retired officers, with copies to Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and Haryana Chief Secretary, contended that the proposed Safari park, apart from increasing vehicular traffic and construction in the ecologically sensitive zone, would also disturb aquifers under the Aravali 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,” read the letter.

It also pointed out that the Safari park location falls under the category of ‘forest’, and there area many orders of the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal, which are prohibitive in nature under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. As such cutting of trees, clearing of land, construction and real estate development are prohibited, the letter said.

The officers said that Haryana had the lowest forest cover in India and the Aravali range was the only saving grace, providing the major portions of its forest cover. It said that human interventions in the form of mining and settlement provoke ecological imbalances by breaching environmental integrity and hamper the progress of Sustainable Development Goals.