NEW DELHI: IN a move to check the illegal liquor vendors operating near the Asola Bhatti wildlife sanctuary, the Delhi forest department has written to the Haryana administration, asking it to identify and act against them.
According to the forest department officials, smugglers have brought down portions of the sanctuary’s boundary wall and have been using it as a shortcut to deliver liquor from Haryana to Delhi on foot or
on motorcycles.
A letter has been written to the Haryana chief wildlife warden asking them to identify liquor vends operating illegally near the sensitive eco-sensitive zone and take stern action. “These liquor vends are operating on forest land in Haryana. Illegal construction activity and liquor sale are two major issues in that area. The neighbouring state will have to take stern action else this will continue to affect the wildlife in the sanctuary,” the official said.
In 2019, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change had declared the area around the boundary of Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary in Gurgaon and Faridabad an Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ), prohibiting activities such as commercial mining, setting up of industries, and establishment of major hydro-electric projects.
The villages included in the eco-sensitive zone are Lakadpur (Surajkund), Pali, Mangar, Bandhwari, Gual Pahari, Balola, Gothra (Mohtabad), Badkhal, Ankhir, Mewla Mahrajpur and Anangpur. The wildlife sanctuary covering a 32.71 sq km area on the Southern Delhi Ridge of the Aravalli hill range along the Delhi-Haryana border lies in southern Delhi and northern parts of Faridabad and Gurgaon districts of Haryana.
As per officials, most of the time, the smuggling happens in the early hours, and the smugglers carry knives and sickles. Country liquor is manufactured at a place adjacent to the wildlife sanctuary in Anangpur village and the smugglers carry this alcohol to Sangam Vihar, which does not have a liquor store of its own.
