new delhi the haryana government has proposed that the aravalis be exempt from a key provision of the forest conservation act fca that puts conditions on transfer of forest land a move green activists say if implemented may lead to the disappearance of all forests in the region the fca provision in question stipulates that if forest land is to be diverted for other uses an equal area of land has to be transferred to the forest department for developing a forest at a meeting of state environment ministers called by the centre haryana forest minister captain abhimanyu argued that the rule should not apply to the aravalis since most forest land in the region was owned by individuals abhimanyu contended that in such cases the task of compensatory afforestation should be left to the private owners of land instead of making it mandatory for land to be transferred to the forest department green activists on the other hand say the fca provision has helped the remaining forests in the aravalis survive and prevented largescale transfer of land for other purposes an official release issued by the state government quoted abhimanyu saying in the meeting that areas regulated under the punjab land preservation act 1900 were mostly owned by individuals and communities and so the transfer of such land to the forest department was not justified the owner must create equal area under forest and maintain it as a forest in hisher ownership the compensatory afforestation ca amount should not be collected and owner must spend required funds and obtain certificate from the forest department regarding compliance of fca the minister said he added that in case nonforest land was not available double the area diverted should be afforested in degraded forests identified by the forest department and the ca cost should be collected from the user agency environmental activists termed the proposition dangerous if this proposal is approved not a single acre of forest would be left in the aravalis the state government must understand that its not the forest department but the supreme court that had brought aravalis under the fca in separate judgments the court has reiterated that fca will be applicable for all forests whether owned by government or individuals said former conservator of forest r p balwan he added since the entire aravali had been converted into private land from panchayat or community land approving haryanas proposal will lead to steady decline in forests the supreme court in 2004 had banned nonforest activities in areas covered under sections 4 and 5 of the punjab land preservation act without prior approval of the central government as per the forest conservation act 1980 in recent years private real estate majors bought huge patches of land in aravalis but they havent got nod for projects since the subregional plan is yet to be approved