Farmhouses with helipads, banquet halls, religious sites—Aravallis has them all

Even though illegal mining is considered the primary reason for the degradation of the Aravallis, illegal construction and conversion of forest into dumpyard pose a major challenge to the hills.

According to a 2025 survey by the state authorities, the Aravallis in Haryana have around 7,000 illegal structures—a majority in Gurugram, followed by Faridabad and Nuh. These include swanky farmhouses, banquet halls, gaushalas, private schools and religious sites. Minimal enforcement is also a matter of concern. According to official records, action was taken only against one-third of the structures, leaving a huge gap for conservation efforts.

Of the illegal structures, over 780 acres were identified in June 2025; and only 241 major buildings on one-third of the encroached forest land were razed. Most of these were farmhouses and banquet halls. The state government has been seeking repeated extensions over three years to implement the Supreme Court’s 2022 order to clear the Aravallis of encroachments.

Gurugram district, which is the hub of encroachments in the Aravallis, houses Raisina area, where the who’s who of the nation have farmhouses—many with helipads. In 2025, the Haryana Forest Department reclaimed 25 acres of forest land in the Raisina area (Sohna) by demolishing unauthorised structures and boundary walls.

A survey by the forest authorities reveals that there are 500 illegal farmhouses in the Aravallis. While the local authorities claim to be taking action, but despite frequent drives, new cement mixers and trucks have been observed in 2026, as walls and buildings are being constructed on "gair mumkin pahad" (uncultivable hill) land.

According to the authorities, the key areas under encroachment in Gurugram include Gwalpahari, Abheypur, Gairatpur Bas, Sohna, Raisina, and Manesar. In Faridabad, encroachments are concentrated in Anangpur, Ankhir, Lakkarpur, and Mewla Maharajpur areas.

“What lacks here is intent. Thanks to judicial intervention, mining is still talked about, but Haryana is silent on the menace of concretisation and encroachments in the Aravallis. Visit the forest any time, and you will see a new road or wall coming up. Property agents openly sell farmhouses, and even government entities are encroaching on Aravalli land, converting it into dumpyards. A special task force is needed to reclaim what is left,” said Vaishali Rana Chandra of the Aravalli Bachao Trust.

The Supreme Court had ruled in 2025 that the land notified under Section 4 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA) had all the attributes of a forest under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. It prohibited the use of such land for non-forest purposes without prior approval from the Central government, and directed that all illegal structures built after the enforcement of the Act be removed.

The National Green Tribunal has also taken up a series of cases linked to the protected land over the years. In 2020, it had ordered the demolition of certain illegal structures in the Aravallis. The Supreme Court's 2022 order widened the scope of that exercise, but Haryana kept seeking extensions.