News: Aravalli Woods residents ask MCG to clear shanties from adjoining biodiversity park in Gurugram-22-03-2026

Residents and the welfare association of Aravalli Woods, a condominium in DLF Phase 3, Gurugram, have asked the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) to deal with what they describe as large-scale encroachment in the neighbouring Aravalli Biodiversity Park. They wrote to the MCG commissioner on March 18.

The letter says that shanties and temporary huts have appeared inside the park over recent months, helped by the lack of a pucca boundary wall. Residents want an immediate inspection, a time-bound plan to secure the area, and the identification and relocation of labour huts, which they call unauthorised and unsafe.

Resident Bidyut Tamuly claimed that 5,000 to 6,000 labourers live in the shanties. He said the missing wall had become a security and environmental problem, and that removing the encroachments matters even more than building a wall. RWA joint secretary Vishal Darad said the fence put up 10 to 12 years ago is ineffective and should give way to a sturdy, permanent wall, since even animals can enter the society at present.

Residents also alleged that some of the structures are used as daytime hideouts by drug addicts, which worries families, children and the many senior citizens in the society. RWA secretary Azad Singh said the park, meant to serve as a forested area, has been badly encroached upon. The police have not independently verified the claim about drug users. The complaint follows reports of repeated break-in attempts in nearby block S of DLF Phase 3, which residents link to the park.

Ward councillor Sundar Singh said the encroachments are illegal. District forest official Raj Kumar said any encroachment towards the forest area would be removed on a priority basis.

Officials explained that the forest area belongs to the forest department, the biodiversity park is maintained by the MCG, and the residential society falls under DLF. MCG officials said streetlights and the boundary wall are DLF’s responsibility. A junior MCG official said a complaint came in on Friday and a team was sent, but he was unaware of any massive encroachment and promised another inspection in the coming week.

A DLF spokesperson said a joint security walk with residents and security teams took place on March 10. DLF is mapping blind spots and vulnerable boundary stretches, has taken up more CCTV cameras, added night patrols, and built precast boundary wall segments with concertina wire.