NEW DELHI: In a fresh threat to the fragile ecosystem of the Aravalis, the Haryana forest department has reversed its earlier order and asked officials not to designate lands in the range as forests, other than those formally recorded as such.The order implies that vast tracts of forests, including most parts of the sacred Mangarbani grove, would now be recorded as ‘not forest’. This reverses the department’s March order in which it was decided to record the entire Aravali range as forest while carrying out ground surveys of natural conservation zones (NCZs) in NCR.Terming the change as a “clarification”, a circular from the state forest secretary, issued on Monday, states, “…only recorded forests will be shown/marked as ‘forests’ (Y) while carrying out ground truthing exercise… in Aravali region. Areas other than recorded forests will be shown/marked as ‘not forest’ (N), which is the present status.”By contrast, the minutes of a meeting held on March 12 to decide the criteria for the survey had recorded: “The Aravali range in Haryana region as shown in NCZ will be kept in the category of ‘forest to be identified as per criteria’ within the NCZ category temporarily till the criteria for forest are decided by the Supreme Court.”This would have meant that most parts of Aravali including Mangar and its sacred forest would have finally got recognition as forests. That, in turn, would have meant that the Forest Conservation Act would apply to these tracts, under which diversion of forest land for non-forest activities becomes tough and needs the Centre’s approval.TOI had on Monday first reported that informal instructions on the government’s U-turn had been sent to officials.While reversing the stand, Monday’s order, however, plays safe. In the circular, the forest secretary has asked officials to carry a disclaimer in their ground survey reports that the status of areas marked as “no forest” may undergo further change when the criteria and parameters for classifying an area as a forest are finalized by the Union environment ministry and adopted by states.Referring to an affidavit filed by the state government in Supreme Court in 1997, the letter says the forest department had submitted details of reserved forests, protected forests, unclassified forests, forests notified under Indian Forest Act and areas notified under Sections 4 and 5 of Punjab Land Preservation Act.Green activists have condemned the move. Said environmental analyst Chetan Agarwal, “The Supreme Court has said Aravali has to be protected at any cost and precautionary principle demands that the entire Aravali be treated as forest. Either they should have waited for the Supreme Court to finalize the criteria or the default position should been to record the entire range as forest.”Activist Col (retired) Sarvadaman Oberoi, who has dragged Haryana government to court on several issues, alleged that unseen forces seem to be behind the government’s latest move. “There is something afoot,” he said.Officials are currently carrying out ground surveys of NCZs in each district of NCR to delineate forests, recharge zones, major water bodies and river beds. Forest cover constitutes just 3.5% of land in Haryana.