Gurgaon: A paved road through the ecologically sensitive Mangar Bani in Aravalis has triggered a puzzling contradiction within the forest department.A divisional forest officer’s draft report flagged the construction as unauthorised, cited extensive wildlife around the area and said no such road actually existed in revenue records. But a final report submitted to National Green Tribunal (NGT) by the principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) omitted these concerns and said the department was not the enforcement authority for the road “as of now”.The difference is critical because NGT had, on Aug 4, asked the PCCF to ensure that no illegal construction took place in Mangar Bani and sought a comprehensive report. The dispute concerned the paved internal road through the sacred grove, which falls within a zone notified by the state govt as a no-construction area.In letters dated July 27 and Aug 6 to the district town planner, Faridabad’s deputy conservator of forests (DFO) said the stretch was not recorded as a road in revenue records and that the land was classified as ‘gair mumkin pahar’. The DFO’s draft report on Oct 14 also said that laying tiles for the road “cannot be treated as merely the continued use of an earthen track”. It added that traditional use of a pathway and the legality of subsequent construction were separate issues, and the department did not support further concretisation.The draft also described Mangar Bani as “an ecologically significant part of the Aravali landscape”, citing native dhau trees and a habitat for leopards and rusty-spotted cats. It warned that concrete paving could affect soil permeability, drainage and wildlife habitat. The absence of tree felling, it said, did not by itself make the road construction permissible.However, the PCCF’s report – filed on Oct 15 in the case of Sarvadaman Singh Oberoi vs State of Haryana – took a different approach. It said the land was not recorded as reserved or protected forest, had no special order under Sections 4 or 5 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900, and had seen no tree felling. It also referred to the 2016 no-construction notification, but concluded that “no provisions of Forest Acts are applicable on the said land”.The final report did not explain why the draft’s concerns about wildlife, the missing road record and the legality of paving were not carried forward.Mangar Bani is a rare natural sacred grove in the NCR Aravalis, with mature native trees and rich biodiversity. Retired south Haryana conservator of forests, RP Balwan, said some dhau trees were 400-500 years old and could not be recreated simply by planting saplings. He warned that paving could disturb wildlife movement and make the forest more accessible to vehicles.The land’s status is still being assessed under the process for identifying areas that qualify as forests by their natural characteristics, following the Supreme Court’s 1996 Godavarman judgment. Haryana govt has placed Aravali areas outside recorded forests in a “status to be decided” category, pending identification. The outcome for these areas is awaited.The road’s legality has not been determined by the tribunal.
