GURUGRAM: Six farmhouses and over a dozen boundary walls, spread over eight acres of Aravali land, were demolished by the municipal council of Sohna in Raisina on Friday.
The move comes after the directions of National Green Tribunal (NGT) to demolish illegal structures in areas that fall under sections 4 and 5 of the Punjab Land Protection Act (PLPA).
Non-forest activities are not permitted on the land categorised as ‘gair mumkin pahad’ (uncultivable hill). Under the Union environment ministry’s Aravali notification, ‘gair mumkin pahad’ is protected land where construction of buildings, roads, electrification and cutting of trees are not permitted without seeking permission.
“As the area has land under different categories, each department will restore their respective areas and a definite amount will be given to them for the same. Once the structures are demolished, the district administration will decide a budget for restoring land,” said an official. According to the plan, fresh encroachments are being demolished first.
The tribunal on Dec 9, 2022, directed Haryana and Rajasthan govts to set up a monitoring committee and conduct periodic — preferably quarterly — reviews till all encroachments are removed from Gurgaon, Faridabad, Nuh and Alwar — land classified as ‘gair mumkin pahar (uncultivable hill)’. NGT also asked the chief secretaries of both states to ensure compliance with the directions. NGT bench of chairman Adarsh Kumar Goel, judicial member Sudhir Agarwal, expert member A Senthil Vel and Afroz Ahmad pronounced the judgment in the case.
According to a forest department survey, at least 500 farmhouses have been built illegally on Aravali land in Gurgaon, concentrated in areas like Gwalpahari, Abheypur, Gairatpur Bas, Sohna, Raisina and Manesar.
“The municipal council of Sohna had demolished 80 structures, of 424 in the area falling under its jurisdiction. There has been a stay order on 165 farmhouses. Prior notices were served before carrying out the demolition on Dec 12. MCG identified 80 violations in the area falling under its jurisdiction. The civic body had removed 59 violations in Sikandarpur Ghosi area and restored five acre of land. It had also razed illegal structures on seven acres of land in Gwalpahari. Further, MCG had identified and demolished 19 farmhouses in Bandhwari,” the report stated.In Sept 2021, the green tribunal had ordered both the govts to remove the illegal construction and restore forest land apart from submitting action-taken reports.
A detailed list of these structures was submitted to the NGT in the Sonya Ghosh vs state of Haryana case last year. The report also had details of the total area occupied by them and their locations.
The Gurgaon administration in 2020 replaced the term ‘gair mumkin farmhouse’, which had insidiously found its way into the revenue records, and helped farmhouse owners skirt provisions of the Aravali Notification that came into force in 1992, with the original term, ‘gair mumkin pahad’.
Meanwhile, environmentalists said that the area needs to be restored as per the green tribunal order which has been witnessing several encroachments.
