Illegal farmhouses razzed by Haryana Forest Department

Last week the Haryana Forest Department in Gwalpahari sized four acres of land by destroying five farmhouses that were illegally constructed. The demolished structures were built on land falling under sections 4 and 5 of the Punjab Land Protection Act (PLPA) where non-forest activities cannot be carried out on land categorised as ‘gair mumkin pahar’, i.e., uncultivable land. The land in questions is situated in the Aravali Forest area. The razzing was conducted in accordance with the directive issued by the National Green Tribunal.

In September 2021, the NGT had ordered the Haryana and Rajasthan governments to act quickly to remove unlawful buildings in the Aravalis. The decision was made when the court heard a plea from Delhi resident Sonya Ghosh who claimed that there had been illegal construction in the "gair mumkin pahar" region. This fight first began in 2013, when the NGT initiated an investigation after TOI published a story on January 7 titled "How Private Players Acquired Forest Land in the Aravalis."

Following this, the State Forest Department issued a statement saying Sohna Municipal Committee would begin demolishing 179 unlawfully constructed farmhouses in the Raisina Aravalis from 12 December 2022. The statement also mentioned that 80 structures had already been demolished and 165 have received court-ordered stays. The Sonha Municipal Committee claims to have already notified the owners that their houses would be demolished on the date prescribed in accordance with NGT instructions. The demolition work was delayed due to GRAP (Graded Response Action Plan against Air Pollution).

Next (Gurugram Police make their first arrest in Chintels Paradiso case)

Illegal farmhouses razzed by Haryana Forest Department

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