News: 2 more illegal farmhouses demolished in Faridabad Aravalis-12-08-2021
Gurgaon: The forest department, along with the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF), razed two illegal farmhouses in the Aravalis in Ankhir village on Wednesday. Around five illegal farmhouses have come up in Ankhir since March and 25 acres of forest land have been encroached upon. No non-forest activity is permitted in the area, as it falls under sections 4 and 5 of the Punjab Land Protection Act (PLPA), 1900.
The department had demolished two structures earlier this week in the same area. The move came after the Supreme Court on July 23 ordered MCF not to spare any illegal structures in the Aravalis, including farmhouses, commercial establishments, and religious structures, during the ongoing demolition drive in Khori village.
“We have been carrying out demolition in Ankhir at present. Some illegal structures had come up in the Aravali area in the past few months. The demolition drive is being carried out jointly by the forest department and MCF. We will raze more illegal structures in Ankhir in the coming days,” Faridabad division forest officer Raj Kumar said.
This is the same area where a forest guard was allegedly thrashed by some men in July last year. The guard was inspecting the forest area in Ankhir for encroachment when he noticed that a wall had been constructed illegally there. He was taking photos of the construction when a group of men carrying sticks accosted him and thrashed him, according to the forest department. An FIR had been filed on November 11, 2019 after a complaint by the department about a similar incident.
Last year, the district magistrate of Faridabad had ordered demolition of illegal structures in Ankhir twice. It was found at least 15 sites had been illegally occupied and structures had also been constructed on them. The areas where most of the encroachments were found were Ankhir, Badkal and Mangar. According to sources, three years ago, then MCF commissioner had prepared a list of 144 encroachments in Aravali areas and the forest department too had sent a list of encroachments on over 500 acres by about 92 individuals.
These lists were sent to the district administration for action; however, no major action has been taken yet.
