The extremely low forest cover in the Draft Development Plan-2031 for Gurgaon-Manesar Urban Complex has come under severe criticism from environmentalists and civil society groups which have demanded that the plan be brought in compliance with the forest provisions as per the national and State policies.

“The forest cover in Haryana is just 3.64 per cent which is among the lowest in the country and much lower than the national average of 22-23 per cent. The Regional Plan 2021, prepared by the National Capital Region Planning Board, and subsequent court judgments have stated that it is imperative to bring in more areas under forest so as to maintain the ecological balance and proposed that the total forest cover be 10 per cent. But the ocular estimation shows that the DDP-2031 for Gurgaon-Manesar Urban Complex has less than 4 per cent forest cover,” said environmentalist Chetan Agarwal.