by Dr Savita Nagpal (B 86 South City 1, Member Aravalli Bachao Citizens’ Movement)
The hills and mountains as we know them are redolent with the sounds of gushing streams, towering trees, dense green foliage and life in all its dimensions and forms, ranging from tiny insects on the ground to the eagles soaring in the skies.
Unfortunately all of the above gets endangered as we become unmindful of it in our relentless march towards “progress”. The NCR Draft Regional Plan 2041 in its current form is a real threat to our Ecosystems, and therefore to our common future and that of our younger generations, and should not be implemented as such. It is excluding terms such as ‘Aravallis’, ‘Forest Areas’, ‘Natural Conservation Zone’, ‘Man made Water Bodies’, Tributaries & Floodplains of Rivers’, ‘Forest Cover Target of 10%’, included in the NCR 2021 Regional Plan, and other natural areas that are not recognised in revenue records or notified under Central or State Acts. This will open up more than 70% of the Aravallis and other natural ecosystems for commercialisation, Real Estate development etc.
We hope the Government will listen to the voices of more than two lakh Citizens who are asking for a revision in the NCR DRAFT REGIONAL PLAN 2041. Since July 2022, after we uploaded our detailed objections on the PMO portal, the Aravalli Bachao Citizens’ Movement has been creating awareness regarding the ecological dilutions in the NCR Draft Regional Plan 2041.
Letters / emails asking for removal of the ecological dilutions in the NCR Draft Regional Plan 2041 and strengthening of the same to give more protection to the Aravallis and all the other natural ecosystems, have been submitted to 8 Government authorities, viz.
· Prime Minister’s Office,
· Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
· Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs
· Member Secretary of NCR Planning Board
· Delhi Chief Minister
· Haryana CM via Resident Commissioner in Haryana Bhavan
· Rajasthan CM via Resident Commissioner in Rajasthan Bhavan
· UP CM office in Delhi
The letters to the above are from:
· 5 Medical Associations in Delhi and Haryana, representing 17588+ Doctors
· 225226+ Citizens across the 4 NCR States (Delhi, Gurugram, Rewari, Noida, Ghaziabad, Bhiwadi ) through 43+ RWAs
· 12900+ Students & Teachers from 20+ schools
· 1,25000 Citizens in Gurugram city represented by their Councillor
· 2700+ urban & rural Citizens through their own physical signatures
· 5660+ Citizens through objection emails
· Representations from different stakeholders such as industry bodies and pan India Environment organisations
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“With global warming and Climate crisis looming on our heads, it is the need of the hour to make ecological conservation a central part of our urban planning”, said Neelam Ahluwalia, Founder Member of the Aravalli Bachao Citizens Movement.
Will the government listen to the voices of more than 2 lakh citizens asking for revision in the NCR DRAFT PLAN 2041?
