Notice to Forest Dept officers, XEN over encroachments along canal

The Public Action Committee (PAC) has issued notice to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, District Forest Officer and the Executive Engineer, Canals, to remove encroachments and illegally operating wine shops, taverns and other commercial building structures operational on forest land located on Shri Gobind Singh Marg from Doraha to Chamkaur Sahib. It has also demanded registration of FIRs against encroachers and immediate removal of encroachments, apart from imposing environmental compensation on them as per law.

The core committee members of PAC, Kapil Arora, Amandeep Bains, Jaskirat Singh and Kuldeep Khaira, while serving the notice, have referred to the directions of the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal in this regard, which allows no such activity in the abovesaid area.

The members complained that five wine shops and taverns along with other commercial activities are going on under the nose of the District Forest Officer of Ludhiana as well as Executive Engineer of the Water Resources Department. “Some wine shops appear to have been constructed after illegal mining at the location as well as axing of an unknown number of trees,” they further alleged.

The members said that the illegal structures damage the flora and fauna of the forest and restrict the movement of wildlife. They shared that despite contacting the DFO, Ludhiana, in this regard, no action had been taken till date by the authority concerned, indicating that they were hand-in-glove with owners of such illegal commercial shops. They alleged that the officials were equally responsible for such illegal construction of the structures of wine shops and their illegal activities.

The taverns prepare the food using gas cylinders as well as tandoors, resulting in major environmental pollution within the forest area. It is a well-known fact that this forest strip acts as a corridor for wildlife, but due to such illegal encroachment as well as commercial activities, the free movement of wildlife is getting restricted. Further, the waste material of taverns causes damage to roots of trees, resulting in further damage to the forest area and environment. Sadly, the authorities have turned a blind eye and allowed such activities to continue in the forest strip, they further said.

The PAC has thus, keeping in view the directions of the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal, Indian Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, Environmental Laws, served the notice to those concerned along with a demand for registration of FIRs against the encroachers under the Forest and Wildlife Conservator Act and immediate removal of all illegal structures from the forest land situated along Sirhind Canal from Doraha to Chamkaur Sahib. The committee has warned that in case of non-compliance in the next 15 days, they would be forced to move the National Green Tribunal.