New Delhi, Environmentalists have welcomed the retention of ecological safeguards in the NCR Regional Plan 2041, which will soon replace the 2021 plan.
The plan, which provides a development plan for the National Capital Region, had previously replaced the term 'Natural Conservation Zone' with 'Natural Zone' in a 2022 draft.
However, environmentalists say the latest agenda for the National Capital Region Planning Board's meeting states that the concept of 'Natural Conservation Zone' of NCR Regional Plan 2021 will be retained in the new NCR Plan 2041.
Neelam Ahluwalia, co-founder of Aravalli Bachao Citizens Movement, called it a 'huge relief' for people who had opposed the change in terminology.
Dr Rajendra Singh, a water and Aravalli conservationist, said that the term 'natural zone' in the 2022 draft plan comprised natural features such as mountains, hills, rivers, water bodies, and forests that were notified for conservation.
The NCR Regional Plan 2021 had identified environmentally sensitive areas, including the extension of Aravalli ridge, forest areas, rivers, and water bodies, as NCZ.
