11 illegal farm houses constructed on de-listed forest land demolished in Ropar’s Bardar village

In a major crackdown on long-standing illegal constructions on de-listed forest lands in Ropar district, Town Planning Department has demolished 11 unauthorised structures, including farmhouses built over the years in the Bardar forest area of Ropar. Sources said that these illegal structures were built in gross violation of Section 4 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA) 1900.

As per the directions of the Supreme Court in the Godavarman v/s Union of India case, lands that were under PLPA but under cultivation before 1996 were allowed to be de-listed from Section 4 of the PLPA Act. However, the de-listed land could not be used for any purpose other than agriculture or agro-forestry. Under this provision, about 55 acres of land in the Bardar village of Ropar were de-listed.

The sources said that structures were built after an IFS officer permitted their construction in the Bardar village as part of the ecotourism policy. However, the orders of the IFS officer were struck down by the Secretary of Forests, but the owners of the land went ahead with the construction of farmhouses on the land anyway.

According to official sources, the de-listed land in the Bardar village was purchased by Daya Krishna Gill in 2004-2005, who later developed an unauthorised housing project named Eko Dham Farm Houses. Despite repeated notices and directives from the department to halt the illegal activity, construction continued unabated. The sources said that the passages to the unauthorised constructions were constructed through forest land.

The Conservator of Forests, Ropar, Harjinder Singh, when contacted, said that Forest Department had filed two criminal cases against the people who had used forest land to create passages to their farmhouses under the Forest Conservation Act. The Town Planning Department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that show-cause and demolition notices had been issued earlier, granting six weeks to remove the illegal structures. However, when no action was taken, the department initiated a large-scale demolition drive and also registered a case against Daya Krishna Gill for violating planning laws.

Officials stated that the campaign marks the beginning of a sustained effort to reclaim encroached land and curb unregulated development in the region. “Strict action will continue against unauthorised constructions and encroachments on forest land,” said a senior officer of the department.

Local AAP MLA Dinesh Chadha lauded the administration’s efforts, describing the action as “long overdue and commendable”. In a social media post, he wrote that the process initiated in 2022-2023 has finally culminated in a decisive step to protect the region’s ecological and legal integrity.

Town Planning Department has reaffirmed that the drive against illegal constructions will continue in the coming days to ensure compliance and restore government and forest lands to their rightful status.