Aravali Safari Park Project : Environment Concerns
Some Environmental Activists have raised concerns over the 10,000-acre Aravali safari park Project proposed in Haryana.
- This project will be the largest such project in the world.
- It aims to boost tourism and employment opportunities for the local people.
- The Aravalli safari project is being conceived and designed as a zoo safari and not a natural jungle safari to see native Aravalli wildlife in their natural habitat.
- Conservation of the Aravallis does not even get a mention in the aims of the project mentioned in the Proposition.
- Vehicular traffic and construction in the area, the proposed safari park will also disturb the aquifers under the Aravalli hills that are critical reserves for the water-starved districts.
- These aquifers are interconnected and any disturbance or alterations in the pattern can significantly alter the groundwater table.
- The group has especially objected to the ‘underwater zone’ envisioned in the park since the site is a “water-scarce region”.
- In Nuh district, the groundwater table is already below 1,000 feet at many places; the tube wells, borewells and ponds are running dry; Gurugram district has many areas in the ‘red zone’.
- The location falls under the category of ‘forest’, according to many orders by the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal, and is protected under the Forest Conservation Act 1972.
- As such, cutting of trees, clearing of land, construction and real estate development is prohibited on this land.
- The group also highlighted that the construction proposed by the Haryana tourism department in May 2022 would be illegal and further damage the already damaged Aravalli ecosystem.
