Six farmhouses built on Aravali land in Gwalpahari razed

GURUGRAM: The Haryana forest department carried out a demolition drive in the Gwalpahari area on Tuesday. A total of six farmhouses were demolished using JCBs.

The Supreme Court order had directed Haryana to restore the Aravali forest and to demolish structures that fall under special orders of Section 4 of the Punjab Land Protection Act (PLPA). No non-forest activity is permitted in the area.

“Six farmhouses have been razed today, recovering 25-acre land in Gwalpahari. Notices were given to the owners of these farmhouses last year. They had approached the district court but their petition was dismissed by the court. We will again carry out demolition as per the requirement,” said a forest official.

The Supreme Court judgment – in the Narinder Singh vs Divesh Bhutani case – on July 21 had ruled that land covered by special orders issued under Section 4 of the PLPA should be treated as forests and that the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act will apply to these.

Earlier in September 2021, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed Haryana and Rajasthan governments to remove illegal constructions in Aravalis. Both states have been given three months to submit a report. This came when the court was hearing a petition by Sonya Ghosh regarding illegal construction in the “gair mumkin pahar” area of Aravalis in the three districts of Haryana (Faridabad, Nuh and Gurgaon) and one district of Rajasthan (Alwar).

According to a forest department survey, however, at least 500 farmhouses have been built illegally on Aravalis in Gurgaon, concentrated in areas like Gwalpahari, Gairatpur Bas, Sohna, Raisina and Manesar. A detailed list of these structures was submitted to NGT last year.