Acting tough on violators, the Forest department has initiated legal action against more than 100 marriage palace owners, industrial houses, dharam kanda owners, colonisers and showroom owners for encroaching upon the forest land. These violators have their establishments on the Chandigarh Road, Ferozepur Road, Samrala Road, Jagraon, Riakot and Khanna.District Forest Officer (DFO) Mahavir Singh said, “Before using the forest land for access purposes, a formal application needs to be filed with the department to get a no-objection certificate. This way the Forest department earns revenue from its land.”DFO adds, “We have written to various departments such as Municipal Corporation, Town Planning, Ludhiana Improvement Trust and Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) asking them not to give any NoC to colonisers or private building owners till the time the Forest department clears the case.”He added, “Any construction near the forest area gets a green signal after the owner gets an NoC from various departments. But they don’t bother to write to the Forest department.”Though the court will soon decide on the penalty to be levied on violators, the forest department has asked residents to refrain from using its land.On the wrong side of lawSartaj Palace, 4 Aces Farm, White Rock, Spring Field Resorts, Maharaja Farms, Pearl Plaza, Rhythm, Regency Garden, Harkaran Palace, Karan Palace, HK Computer Dharam Kanda, Sokhi Dhrama Kanda, Kewal Krishan Bricks, Namdhari Private Limited, Ganesh Overseas, Shiva Glass House, Akme Colony, Jindal Agro, GK City Colony, Sunrise Wrought, Noble Steel, Osho Forge, Friends Colony, Ajit Mills, Kalra Industries, Ginni Exports, Gurdeep Timber, Kulwant Timber, Gurbax Timber, Royal Industries. khanna: Sonia Goyal and Company, MS Dhanpat rai and Dera Baba Mastana.
