India, Sept. 23 -- The Haryana government's August 18 notification narrowing the definition of "forest" has been challenged before the National Green Tribunal (NGT), with environmentalist and retired Army officer Devender Singh Bamel seeking to quash the move for violating Supreme Court rulings and endangering the fragile Aravalli ecosystem.

Filed on September 5, the petition argues that the state's restrictive definition poses a "grave risk" to the environment, as large swathes of scrub and open forests in the Aravallis-already under pressure from mining, urbanisation and real estate expansion-would be excluded from statutory protection. The NGT has issued notices to the state government and its forest department and listed the matter f...