101 illegal farmhouses demolished in Aravallis since 2020, state tells NGT
The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the Sohna Municipal Council has demolished 101 illegal farmhouses in the Aravallis since 2020. Along with this, boundary walls on 100 acres and 22 acres of land and a 1.5 km black top road have also been removed.
Farmhouses demolished by Sohna MC
Year Demolitions
2020 7
2021 8
2024 39 and various boundaries on 22 acres
2025 47, various boundaries on 100 acres and a 1.5 km road
Total 101 farmhouses
An FIR was registered against the construction of the road on June 23, though it was lodged against unknown violators.
The disclosure came during a case related to illegal construction of farmhouses in Ansals Aravali Retreat, Raisina (Gurugram), currently being heard by the NGT.
In its action-taken report submitted to the HSPCB on July 10, the Sohna Municipal Council stated that it had issued notices to 330 farmhouse owners in Raisina and Golden Height Sohna, in line with a Punjab and Haryana High Court order of June 3, 2020.
The council said the land was originally classified as ‘gair mumkin pahad’ (uncultivable hill), but had been converted into farmhouses. Of the 330 owners, 175 responded to the notices.
Subsequently, the Sohna local body wrote to the District Municipal Commissioner, Gurugram, in October 2020, seeking the formation of a committee to examine the replies. A five-member committee was constituted on January 29, 2021, including officials from the Sohna MC, an Assistant District Attorney from MC Gurugram, and an expert.
However, the council admitted: “No order/proceeding has been issued by the appointed committee regarding the above replies.”
The Raisina Aravalli area came under Sohna Municipal Council jurisdiction in 2014. The council sought details in 2023 from the District Town Planner on farmhouses built before that year, but the report is still awaited.
According to the HSPCB, prior to 2020, 424 farmhouses were already constructed on Raisina Hill. Since then, 101 illegal farmhouses identified after 2014 have been demolished under the Haryana Municipal Act.
The local body added that 12 guards had been deployed for surveillance. Public awareness drives against illegal construction are also being carried out through newspapers, announcements, hoardings, and banners, in compliance with NGT orders.
Meanwhile, the forest department informed the HSPCB (via a letter dated August 8) that Raisina Hill is a notified area under General Section 4 of the Punjab Land Preservation (PLP) Act, 1900, where tree felling without permission is prohibited. The department has issued 27 damage reports in the past two years for unauthorised tree cutting in the area.
Haryana Tribune