GURUGRAM: A one-kilometre-long concrete road has been built through the Aravalis , connecting Suncity in Sector 54 directly with Gurgaon-Faridabad Road, in what appeared to be a major violation of environmental norms.A TOI team, which visited the area on Monday, found that the concrete stretch, located behind Suncity, passes through the dense Aravalis, goes up to a temple on a hill in the middle of the forest and then further winds through the woods towards Gurgaon-Faridabad Road. Also, a portion of the boundary wall has been broken and a gate has been installed there to provide a rear-side entry to the society. This gate allows vehicles coming from the Aravali-side to take the internal lanes and go to Golf Course Road. Residents alleged some villagers had built the road and installed the gate for those who visit the temple in the forest.Sources claimed that a narrow katchcha road, essentially used to reach the temple, had existed in the protected land (Gair Mumkin Pahar) since 2006. But, it has been widened and concretised over the past two years and now is being used by motorists too, they added. Though the exact number of trees felled is not known, local people alleged that at least 300 trees had been chopped to pave the way for the stretch.“There had been a small katchcha rasta for many years. Though it was illegal, people could only walk on that narrow stretch. But, in the past two years, the road has been concretised and widened. Soon after the concretisation , a gate was opened behind the township to provide a shortcut to the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road,” said a resident, requesting anonymity.The township’s residents claimed they had made several complaints to forest officials over the past six months, but in vain. “We have told the forest officials about the violation several times but all out pleas have fallen on deaf ears,” said another resident.The residents alleged the road had been made to benefit a few influential villagers.Green activists as well as residents alleged that constructing a road was the first step towards encroaching forest areas and carrying out illegal constructions.“It is a typical way to encroach upon protected areas. The encroachers first built a katchcha road to connect a few plots or temples with the main road. The concretisation takes a few years, carried out generally over weekends or at night. One may soon see a few boundary walls coming up in the area,” explained Jitender Bhadana from NGO Save Aravalis.Another environmentalist Vivek Kamboj from Haryali demanded strict action against forest officials during whose tenures the road was built. “It is shocking that such a major violation has taken place in the Aravalis right in the middle of the city. Forest officials responsible should be prosecuted as construction of the road could not have taken place without their knowledge. An FIR should immediately be registered against the people and the officials involved in the violation,” he said.When contacted, a spokesperson for the Suncity developers said, “We have heard it is a government road, but we are not sure. We haven’t built this road.”Vivek Saxena, chief conservator of Gurgaon, told TOI, "I have asked for a detailed report from the district forest officer. We will take strict action against the violators.”

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