NGT refuses to stay razing in Asola Bhatti

With the Forest department coming down heavily on all encroachments, the owners of the farmhouses in the area are crying foul.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday refused to grant a stay on the demolition of farmhouses that have illegally encroached upon forest land at the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary.

The NGT said the property owners could approach the Forest department and the Revenue department with the documents, related to their property in the area, for clarification. The Forest department’s drive to demolish farmhouses, which it claimed are built on protected forest land, came after the NGT in 2013 had referred to the uncontrollable construction in Delhi’s protected Ridge forest as “an unmanageable situation”.

The Forest department sprung into action only after the Ministry of Environment and Forests, too, demanded an explanation and directed in December last year to clear all encroachments.

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With the Forest department coming down heavily on all encroachments, the owners of the farmhouses in the area are crying foul. Officials of the Forest department and Revenue department met these owners after the NGT refused to stay the demolition.

“Most owners said that they have been living in this area for years. But that doesn’t change the fact that they have been residing on forest land. We showed the house owners who came for the meeting on Tuesday the detailed maps of forest land and the ways in which their property was encroaching upon protected land,” AK Shukla, Chief Conservator of Forests & Chief Wildlife Warden, said.

On Monday, the Forest department had put out a notice, giving details of khasra numbers of land it says fall under protected areas. Forest department officials said house owners were turning up, armed with property tax receipts and electricity bills, but there was little that they could do.

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