Three farmhouses on Aravalli land razed in Faridabad

In the third week of July, the Supreme Court, while hearing a case about the demolition of Khori village in Faridabad, observed that “the direction to remove all unauthorised structures standing on the forest land applies to all such structures without any exception”

The Faridabad forest department on Tuesday demolished three illegal farmhouses in the Aravallis, weeks after the Supreme Court ordered the removal of all illegal structures from forest land.

Officials said there are around 120 illegal structures and that all of these will be razed.

Raj Kumar, divisional forest officer for Faridabad, said, “Following the orders of the Supreme Court, we started a demolition drive in the Aravallis today and demolished three farmhouses. This drive will continue over the next few days and illegal structures will be razed.”

In the third week of July, the Supreme Court, while hearing a case about the demolition of Khori village in Faridabad, observed that “the direction to remove all unauthorised structures standing on the forest land applies to all such structures without any exception.”

Last week, the forest department started preparations to raze illegal structures, including farmhouses, banquet halls and institutes from Aravalli land. In Faridabad, officials had estimated that around 120-130 illegal structures are currently standing on land notified under the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA).

According to directives of the Supreme Court, the PLPA attracts protection under the Forest Conservation Act of 1980, which states that “no state government or other authority shall make, except with the prior approval of the central government, any order directing that any forest land or any portion thereof may be used for any non-forest purpose.”