Deteriorating air quality
Several studies 21 have indicated that increasing human interference has played a major part in the degradation of the Aravalli Range over the last few decades. According to one study, 22 vegetation cover in the Aravalli Range has reduced from 80% at the beginning of the 20th century to a mere 7% in 2001. Also, it was observed that around 60% of forest land has been lost. A recent survey conducted on the Aravalli Range in Haryana, by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), termed the scrub forests in the range as the “most degraded” in India. “Most of the indigenous plant species have disappeared. The rapid deforestation and developmental activities are destroying the unique landscape that requires immediate conservation attention,” it states.While the forests have been disappearing, human settlement across the entire Aravalli Range has increased by 158% in 26 years, from 247 sq km in 1980 to 638 sq km in 2016. At the same time, the area taken up by industries has gone up from nil to 46 sq km.
The above has led to a series of ecological disasters in the wider area, including sand storms, heat waves, floods and droughts, besides contributing to biodiversity loss.
7. INFLOW OF DUST FROM THE THAR DESERT
Desertification is the result of a “natural drift” of the Thar Desert towards the northwest, itself a consequence of a loss of forests. This has led to environmental hazards including more dust in the air, thereby increasing concentration of particulate matter in the lower atmosphere. It can also lead to greater unpredictability of climate, meagre recharging of groundwater, drying up of several natural water bodies and flooding during rains. 23
21 As per the study conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India in May 2017 in 52 sites in the Aravalli range “the occupancy estimates are higher in the areas where the habitat covariates such as shrub cover and tree cover are highest. Forest cover in the study area is very low and only exists in the form of two categories i.e. Open Forest and Scrub.” The report is available at https://41ngmc3nsigz3kwwbw1kp5ic-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/ uploads/Aravallis-Report-WII-May-2017-compressed.pdf Another report of Hindustan times depicts a significant decrease in the green cover between 1980 and 2016 in Aravalli range. The report is accessible at https://www.hindustantimes.com/gurugram/saving-aravallis-desert- inches-towards-delhi-gurugram-as-urbanisation-hits-buffer-zone/story-7Pb9ZdSmV1u7qv7YnS56HI.html 22 ‘Deforestation in Great Aravalli Mountain Region of India’, carried out by Narpat Singh Rathore – associate professor in geography, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur 23 https://weather.com/en-IN/india/news/news/2018-09-20-degradation-aravalis-ecological-disaster
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