In a major step against illegal structures built on forest land, the Gurugram forest department has identified 500 such buildings and has also served notice to 100 owners.
This comes after the Gurugram forest department started a survey with drones to identify illegal structures on Aravalli forest land.
This move comes weeks after the Supreme Court ordered the removal of all illegal construction from the forest land in the Aravalli region.
The Gurugram district Sohna area has many colonies in the forest area attached to the foothills of the Aravalli.
Of these, more than a 1,000 houses and shops have been built. People have been living here for more than five decades. In six days, more than 500 buildings have been identified as illegal constructions. Hundreds of people have also been served notices.
The Forest Department has surveyed the houses built at many places including ITI Colony, Pahar Colony, Pir Colony, Gujar Ghati, Devilal Road, Thakurwada. The Forest Department is identifying these structures based on its land records and maps. Most of the houses in these colonies were built in the forest area in 2004.
“People have illegally occupied several acres of land in Sohna’s Aravalli area, which is being surveyed. Possession of illegal land will be removed,” said a Forest Department official requesting anonymity.
According to officials, the department has surveyed more than 1,700 hectares to ascertain how many illegal constructions are present in the Aravallis.