Forest Dept under fire for ‘unchecked’ encroachment

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 1

Environmentalists have accused Forest Department officials of allegedly turning a blind eye to the encroachment of over 5 acres in Mangar village of the Aravallis in Faridabad district on the Delhi border despite NGT orders for restoration of the same.

Environmentalists and social activists Vaishali Rana Chandra, Vivek Kamboj, Col SS Oberoi, PN Singh, Col Santpal Raghav and Manesar ex-sarpanch Ramavtar Yadav have taken up the matter with Haryana Chief Secretary Keshni Anand Arora, as well as senior officers of the Forest Department, via email.

“A 5-acre plot is being encroached upon by a local land mafia and, prima facie, the Forest Department is hand in glove with the culprits, as this particular land parcel is an old case which has been reported several times. It (the matter) was taken up in the NGT, which had ordered restoration of the land which belonged to the Aravallis. In the name of restoration, the Forest Department wire fenced and secured the land for encroachers, thereby helping them to encroach further, and that’s what exactly is happening now. The encroachers have built a stone wall yet again inspite of NGT orders, and all this while the department is turning a blind eye to it,” the environmentalists alleged in their complaint. Talking to The Tribune, Vaishali Rana alleged that an “eyewash” demolition exercise was carried out on Tuesday by the Forest Department to ‘free’ this 5-acre patch. Sharing pictures taken post-demolition, environmentalists said the stone wall was still intact.

“Sending a JCB to the site was meant to hoodwink us and senior officials as it was barely used. The Forest Department officials instructed the staff to demolish the wall with their hands,” alleged the activists. They also objected to the Forest Department’s practice of calling complainants to the spot while taking action, thereby exposing them to the land mafia.

“Checkposts in Gurgaon and Faridabad have been reduced to half by the Forest Department in the last two years, especially when the Forest Minister had promised to increase their numbers and manpower in January 2018,” they alleged.

5 acres under lens

Environmentalists and social activists said encroachers had taken over 5 acres in Mangar village of the Aravallis in Faridabad district on the Delhi border. This, they said, was despite NGT ordering restoration of the land. Encroachers had built a stone wall around the land yet again, while the Forest Department was turning a blind eye to it, the activists said.

What the DFO says

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Suresh Punia claimed that the department had halted the encroachment attempt. When his attention was drawn towards the stone wall still in place, Punia said this encroachment had been happening since 2014-15 and the first offence report (FOR) has been lodged and the prosecution launched. He said as far as the demolishing the stone wall was concerned, this is to be done by the District Town Planner (Enforcement). “The Forest Department’s job is to stop encroachment activities at the spot and restore the land, which we have done,” he said.