As the monsoon session of Parliament began on Thursday, the Joint Parliamentary Committee investigating the Forest (Conservation) Amendment law 2023 is likely to present its report, and the new law may be submitted. A group of people held peaceful demonstrations at the Aravallis in Delhi, Gurugram, Jawai area in the Pali district of Southern Rajasthan, and Shaheed Smarak in Jaipur, urging the government to scrap the bill in its current form, claiming that if the new amendment bill is passed, the majority of Aravallis could be sold, diverted, cleared, and exploited without any regulatory oversight.
It is estimated that 39,063 hectares of woods are preserved and managed as forests by local communities across India, despite the fact that they are not formally recognised as forests. The sacred forest of Mangar Bani in Haryana is known as ‘gair mumkin pahad’ and is waiting for Haryana to recognise it as a forest. “The FCA Amendment Bill will decimate such lands across the 690-kilometer-long Aravalli range, which spans four states and the rest of India,” stated Neelam Ahluwalia, Founder Member of the Aravalli Bachao Citizens Movement.
Millions of people who live along the foothills of India’s oldest mountain range rely on the Aravallis. According to a recent study conducted by the Central University of Rajasthan, Ajmer on the assessment of land use dynamics in the Aravalli range over a 44-year period, forests in the Aravallis decreased by 7.6 percent, resulting in the loss of 5772.7km of forest cover.”The desert is moving into Eastern Rajasthan, Haryana, and the National Capital Region. Experts link desertification to the degradation of the Aravalli hills, as well as the loss of forests and green cover,” Mahi, a student, explained.
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