Earlier this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on India's commitment to combat land desertification by protecting forest cover and combating water scarcity. Speaking at the UN Climate action meet held at Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh, PM Modi pledged that 26 million hectares of land will be brought under forest cover by 2030. But in Gurgaon, about 50 kms away from the venue of the UN Climate Action Meet, PM Modi's party, the BJP, which is in power in Haryana has sanctioned 60,000 acres of forest land for development work. The move has witnessed wide-scale protests from all over Gurgaon, where students, parents, civil society and environmentalists have formed protest groups to oppose the move.
