8 Aravalli farmhouses demolished

According to sources, an NGO named Hariyali filed a petition in NGT and also sent geo-references of places that violated the Aravalli Notification Act, 1992.

“The demolition was undertaken after the green tribunal sent a notice to the district administration after taking cognizance of this petition. However, the administration had been planning to check on illegal construction in that area as this is not the first time demolitions have taken place in and around Ansal Aravalli Retreat,” a source said.

The Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon, T L Satya Prakash, told Newsline that only after the petitioner showed geo-references of the areas that were encroached upon that a district-level monitoring meeting was called.

“We will be taking efficient steps to monitor encroachments of any kind in the Aravallis. We will also consider forming special teams to monitor this,” Satya Prakash said.

The Haryana notification prohibits activities like setting up industries, mining, felling of trees, construction of residential clusters, farmhouses, sheds, community centres and building roads and infrastructure projects.

“For any such activity, permission is supposed to be taken from the ministry of environment and forests, and an environment impact assessment of the project has to be submitted. Not all constructions in the list have been completed — some have just boundary walls right now,” an official said.

A senior forest official said, “While some violations are major in nature — such as construction of farmhouses — in most cases, property owners had constructed additional rooms, boundary walls and concrete roads.”

According to sources, the forest department will soon issue notices to farmhouse owners for violating the PLPA and Forestry Act.