Sanghi Hills are a privately owned, tiny part of the Aravalli range located in Haryana. Once upon a time, it was a beautiful site with a sprawling lake. it has, since, become a barren place. This is the story of restoring it to its pristine beauty.
What a panorama unfolded in front of him !- standing against a background of lush green Aravalli Forest on the west there was the glorious orange Sun rising in the east over a shimmering emerald lake teeming with fish, blue lotus flowers and beyond an unending forest as far as he could see. Flocks of birds flew overhead while their chirping in the trees below, presented a natural ‘surround sound’ concert.
A sweet little girl gathering twigs, told him that every full moon, a tiger comes to the hill top and is seen, from the lake shore, silhouetted against the full moon—and sends its roar rolling down the easterly slopes.
There and then, Mam Raj Sanghi, decided to buy this hill as a gift for his 3 loving sons-Murai Lal Sanghi**, Bihari Lal Sanghi and Hazari Lal Sanghi. On 8th of Jaith, 1941 BK (1884 AD), He bid a sum of Rs 3225/- –then a princely sum—and won the auction. A photograph of the now historical, mutation document in Urdu appears here.
He invited a few landless persons to settle on the shore of the lake, free of cost and thus the tiny hamlet, he named Muraripur came into being.
He dreamt of a huge nature preserve around this lake in the heart of what was then PEPSU and is now South Haryana, a mere 10 kM from Delhi Jaipur’s NH-48, near Behror in Rajasthan.
It is on NH-148A.
DESPAIR
Alas, his dreams fell to the greed of humans, our neglect and the neglect of settlers! What was then a vast, perennial lake is now merely a muddy pond and the forest covered hill is denuded with barren slopes!!
HOPE
We are descendents of that man, settled all over the world. We love nature and stand for nature conservation. We are fired by desire to restore the Hills and whatever is left of the foothills, from the onslaught of humans, to its pristine glory, by creating a bio diversity park, here. Govt of India, too, has recognized the adjoining western side of the hill, as a nature hot spot and planted 11000 trees there as part of internationally funded Aravalli plantation. Due to neglect, few trees remain there. Local politicians, attempted to make a 33 ft road through the forest and we fought it tooth and nail, at the Principal Bench of India’s National Green Tribunal and thanks to nature conservationist Honorable Justice Swatantra Kumar, orders for the protection of the forest on this Aravalli range, were issued.
Efforts to conserve and restore the area have met with resistance from land grabbers, colonizers and politicians who wish to colonize the hills and it is hoped that law and wisdom will prevail and the restoration efforts will succeed and nature may yet find a rebirth and refuge here
We seek the assistance of all nature lovers and nature conservation organizations by way of their good wishes, prayers, encouragement, suggestions and letters of support, to help restore Sanghi*** Hills.
SMILE A WHILE
A farmer purchased an old, run-down, abandoned farm with plans to turn it into a thriving enterprise. The fields were grown over with weeds, the farmhouse was falling apart, and the fences were broken down.
During his first day of work, the town preacher stops by to bless the man’s work, saying, “May you and God work together to make this the farm of your dreams!”
A few months later, the preacher stops by again to call on the farmer. Lo and behold, it’s a completely different place. The farm house is completely rebuilt and in excellent condition, there is plenty of cattle and other livestock happily munching on feed in well-fenced pens, and the fields are filled with crops planted in neat rows.
“Amazing!” the preacher says. “Look what God and you have accomplished together!”
“Yes, reverend,” says the farmer, “but remember what the farm was like when God was working it alone!”
*Rajender Singh, was a modern Maharaja, father of the more well known Bhupender Singh) and was the first Indian to own a car, in 1892 AD, as well as the first Indian to own an aircraft.
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FOOT NOTES
** Was Co founder of Narnaul Arya Samaj.
*** Sanghis hail from Narnaul. Some associated places and names are Sanghi Temple, Hyderabad; Sanghi Mata, Rezri Khejri,Rajasthan; Sanghi Industries; Sh G D Sanghi, ex MP; Late Sh G LSanghi,Sr Advocate;Late Justice Naresh Sanghi, PHHC, Justice Vipin Sanghi, DHC; Justice Sharda Aggarwal (retd) DHC; Sh Satya Pal, Ch Engg.(retd) Eastern Rlw; Adarsh Dial Sanghi, Sr Adv; Steve Sanghi, CEO & Founder, Microchip Corporation, USA; etc.