NACEJ urges Haryana to scrap Aravalli Zoo Safari, warns of ecological and social fallout

By A Representative

The National Alliance for Climate and Ecological Justice (NACEJ), a pan-Indian forum of the National Alliance of People’s Movements comprising grassroots activists, ecologists, climate scientists, environmental researchers and lawyers, has urged the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and the Haryana government to immediately abandon the proposed Aravalli Zoo Safari Park project.

In a memorandum sent to both authorities on September 8, NACEJ argued that the project is fundamentally commercial in nature, poses a grave threat to the fragile Aravalli ecosystem, violates community rights, and undermines the Forest Rights Act. The Haryana government has pitched the project, spread over 10,000 acres in Gurugram and Nuh districts, as the “world’s largest curated safari park.”

Officials have described its purpose as biodiversity conservation, natural heritage protection, groundwater recharge, habitat improvement, and environmental education. Plans include animal enclosures, guest houses, research centres, hotels, restaurants, auditoriums, entertainment parks, artificial lakes, a safari club, and retail spaces. Critics say this makes the project more of a tourism and commercial venture than a conservation initiative.

NACEJ highlighted that the land identified is ecologically critical, covered under the Punjab Land Preservation Act of 1900 and afforested under the Aravalli Plantation Scheme. It also noted that funding for the safari is linked to compensatory afforestation payments for the controversial Great Nicobar megaproject. The alliance warned that the safari will have irreversible ecological and social consequences.

According to environmental researcher and lawyer Meenakshi Kapoor, the government’s suspension of community and individual rights over 24,353 hectares of land for 30 years violates both the Indian Forest Act, 1927, and the Forest Rights Act, 2006. NACEJ said this move threatens the survival of local communities who depend on the Aravalli forests for fodder, fuelwood and other resources. Around 100 families without formal land titles also face displacement.

Conservationists further argued that the plan to fence off 10,000 acres and introduce exotic animals like tigers, lions and cheetahs would fragment a crucial wildlife corridor connecting Mangar Bani and Asola sanctuaries. This corridor is vital for native species such as leopards, striped hyenas, sambar deer and honey badgers. “Any obstruction in the contiguous patch of Aravalli forests will lead to large-scale changes in the region and these will be devastating to the ecology of the hills,” said conservation biologist Neha Sinha.

NACEJ also raised alarm over the large-scale construction the safari entails, including roads, hotels and artificial lakes. Neelam Ahluwalia of People for Aravallis said this would destroy vegetation, micro-habitats and aquifers in a region already battling depleted groundwater, illegal mining and the ecological crisis of the Bandhwari landfill. The influx of tourists would add further strain through pollution, waste and noise.

The alliance stressed that the project’s origins in the Tourism Department and its emphasis on entertainment infrastructure reveal its commercial intent. It also pointed to the controversial Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2023, which reclassifies zoos and safaris as “forestry activities” to bypass strict forest clearances. This provision is under challenge in the Supreme Court, and NACEJ demanded that the Haryana government wait for the verdict before pursuing the project.

In its memorandum, NACEJ recommended that the safari project be discarded entirely. It called instead for science-based conservation plans for the Aravallis, recognition and restoration of community forest rights, and promotion of genuine ecotourism models. Citing the successful 400-acre Aravalli Biodiversity Park in Gurugram, the alliance said restoration-focused initiatives can generate livelihoods and tourism revenue without harming the ecology.

The memorandum concluded that the Haryana government must prioritise conservation of the Aravalli ecosystem and uphold community rights under the Forest Rights Act, rather than pursue a commercial safari that would irreversibly damage both nature and people’s lives.

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