SMC plans to demolish 50 illegal farmhouses on Aravalli land in Raisina

The Sohna Municipal Council (SMC) has started formulating a strategy to demolish around 50 illegal farmhouses constructed on Aravalli land in Raisina, officials familiar with the matter said on Thursday

The Sohna Municipal Council (SMC) has started formulating a strategy to demolish around 50 illegal farmhouses constructed on Aravalli land in Raisina, officials familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

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Sandeep Malik, executive officer, SMC, said, “We sent notices to the illegal farmhouse owners last month, and gave them seven days to respond. We are now going through the responses and formulating a strategy on how to start the demolition work. We are finalising the number of illegal properties to be demolished, which is likely to be close to 50 farmhouses.”

“Any construction raised on a forest area, or an area otherwise covered by the notification dated 07.05.1992, without any permission of the competent authority (after the date of the said notification) has to be treated as illegal, and such a forest land has to be restored (sic),” the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had ruled in October 2018, in the case of Soniya Ghosh v/s State of Haryana.

Following instructions by the NGT, the deputy commissioner ordered on June 11, 2020, that the land use category of ‘gair mumkin farmhouse’ be struck from revenue records and replaced with ‘gair mumkin pahad’ — the original nomenclature. This move would have set the precedent for demolition of the properties, which was opposed by local residents, who moved the High Court. The High Court then ruled that their (farmhouse owners) side should also be heard. After the order by the High Court, the SMC sent show cause notices to farmhouse owners in March 2021. Around 150 illegal farmhouse owners were sent notices in March, and more notices are being sent to the remaining ones. Over 400 farmhouses have been constructed illegally in Aravalli land in Raisina.