In a major development, the Supreme Court has put a temporary halt on the Haryana government’s ambitious Aravali Zoo Safari project — touted as the world’s largest — proposed across 10,000 acres in the eco-fragile Aravali range spanning Gurugram and Nuh districts.

Acting on a petition filed by five retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers and the NGO People for Aravalis (represented by advocate Shibani Ghosh), a bench of Chief Justice B. R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran directed the state not to proceed with any implementation steps until further orders.

Amicus curiae and senior advocate K Parameshwar informed the bench that the SC had asked the Union ministry of forest environment and climate change to come up with a uniform definition of Aravali hills that would be applicable to eco-sensitive areas falling in Haryana and Rajasthan.

“It would be prudent to await the definition of Aravali prior to hearing the petition as the definition would have a strong bearing on the viability of the project and its impact on landmass falling in the Aravali range,” he said.

Haryana’s forest and wildlife minister had recently stated that work on phase-I of the project, covering 2,500 acres, would begin soon.