Overview
- A Sankala Foundation study reports a 20% decline in water bodies across the range, with many remaining ponds eutrophic, silted or seasonal, limiting groundwater recharge.
- Baseline mapping in four Gurugram villages shows agricultural land down about 429 hectares, forest cover down 114 hectares and built-up area up 323 hectares since 2014, with seven of 41 ponds lost.
- Field surveys describe highly degraded and fragmented forest patches dominated by invasive species such as Prosopis juliflora, Lantana camara and Parthenium hysterophorus that suppress native biodiversity.
- Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said no mining will be allowed in Delhi, Nuh, Faridabad and Gurgaon, and cited Aravalli Green Wall Project work with 6.45 million hectares identified and greening underway on 2.7 million hectares.
- The Supreme Court’s earlier elevation-based redefinition of Aravalli boundaries is under review following criticism that it could open most of the landscape to mining.