Haryana

• 29 Jun 2024

Landfill Waste Polluting Waterbodies in Aravalis

Why in News?

Garbage is being illegally dumped at waterbodies in Aravalis. The Aravali land is protected under Section 4 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA) 1900, which makes the forest department’s approval mandatory to carry out any non-forest activities.

Key Points

• Waterbodies in the Aravalis served as a source of water for the local wildlife, and are now being polluted and filled with spillover garbage and leachate from the landfill.
• It is crucial for the authorities to prioritise the protection of the Aravali ecosystem and take stringent action against those violating environmental laws.

Section 4 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), 1900

• Special orders under Section 4 of PLPA, 1900 are the restrictive provisions issued by the state government to prevent deforestation of a specified area that could lead to soil erosion.
• When the state government is satisfied that deforestation of a forest area forming part of a larger area is likely to lead to erosion of soil, the power under Section 4 can be exercised.
  • Therefore, the specific land which a special order under Section 4 of PLPA has been issued will have all the trappings of a forest governed by the Forest Act, 1927.

Aravalli

• The Aravallis of Northwestern India, one of the oldest fold mountains of the world, now form residual mountains with an elevation of 300 meter to 900 meter. They stretch for a distance of 800 km. from Himmatnagar in Gujarat to Delhi, spanning Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Delhi, the 692 kilometre (km).
• The mountains are divided into two main ranges – the Sambhar Sirohi Range and the Sambhar Khetri Range in Rajasthan, where their extension is about 560 km.
• The hidden limb of the Aravallis that extends from Delhi to Haridwar creates a divide between the drainage of rivers of the Ganga and the Indus