This June, the Haryana government carried out a massive anti-encroachment drive in the ecologically fragile Aravallis. But when the dust settled, a pattern emerged.

Of the nearly 6,800 structures an official survey had identified over 780 acres, only 241 major buildings on a third of the encroached forest land were razed. Most of these were farmhouses and banquet halls.

The rest? Left untouched. 

From buildings constructed by the government and gaushalas to educational institutes and religious sites. Categories that add up to nearly 530 major structures sprawling over 302 acres of illegally occupied forest land. Structures constructed by government agencies alone account for nearly one-fourth of the encroached forest land.

This is besides the area housing thousands of small homes.

All this despite the state government seeking repeated extensions over three years to finally implement the Supreme Court’s 2022 order to clear the Aravallis of encroachment.

The court had ruled that 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 act’s enforcement be removed.

The issue of this land had also played out before the National Green Tribunal, which has taken up a series of cases linked to the protected land over the years. In 2020, the tribunal too had ordered the demolition of certain illegal structures in the Aravallis. The Supreme Court order in 2022 only widened the scope of that exercise.

Banquet halls, farmhouses, 3 jhuggis

After a government request in December 2022, the court had first granted a four-month extension in January 2023. In October 2023, the government requested for six more months to execute the order. In March 2024, the court granted time till October 2024. By then, the state government had identified 6,793 unauthorised structures and had sent notices to 729. But it soon moved one more application seeking another extension. In April 2025, the amicus curiae observed that the “process of implementation” of the court’s 2022 order has been “very slow”. This was unlike the government response in other cases. For example, the demolition of the Khori Basti in 2021 that housed around 10,000 migrant workers.

The court ordered the government in April to file a compliance report by September 8, with a copy to the court-constituted Central Empowered Committee that is tasked with overseeing environmental protection in the Aravallis.

Before the filing of the government’s compliance report, officials demolished 241 structures across Anangpur, Lakarpur, and Ankhir villages in Faridabad, clearing more than 261 acres of land, in June. The structures razed mostly included a mix of farmhouses and banquet halls – some owned by politicians from across party lines, from the BJP to the Congress. Among the demolished were also three jhuggis. 

A district-level committee was earlier constituted to oversee the implementation of the 2022 court order. Over two years, it identified 6,793 unauthorised structures spread across 780 acres in four villages – Lakarpur, Mewla Maharajpur, Anangpur, and Ankhir. These were then classified into five categories: farmhouses and banquet halls, religious structures (such as temples, ashrams, and gaushalas), government buildings, educational institutions, and small residential houses.

Of this, demolitions were concentrated in only the first category in June, as per the compliance report submitted in September.

Google Earth images of these areas reveal that encroachment in the Aravallis has steadily increased between 2010 and 2025. Move the slider in the following visuals to see.

What the demolitions left out

Facing political pressure from village groups over a long-standing dispute over land ownership, the government left small private homes untouched. 

In Anangpur alone, more than 5,700 houses stand on 188 acres of forest land. 

Representing more than 20,000 residents, the Anangpur Sangharsh Samiti has submitted multiple letters to the Haryana government. They argue that their homes were built long before the Forest Conservation Act came into force in 1980 and have requested exemption from demolition.

Arjun Bhadana, a resident of Anangpur and one of the protesters, told Newslaundry, “We don’t think this relief from demolition is for a long time…How can the government be so biased in deciding which is an unauthorised structure and which is not? Either they should give approval to everyone or none.”

Among the major structures left untouched were 18 temples occupying 12 acres, 21 ashrams spread over 30 acres, and eight cow shelters covering 10 acres. In total, religious structures took up 51.67 acres of the encroached forest area.

In Ankhir village alone, two sprawling ashrams remained standing: the Radha Soami Satsang Ashram (9.2 acres) and the Param Hans Ashram (4.69 acres). In Lakarpur, another Radha Soami Satsang Bhawan stood over 11.8 acres. In Mewla Maharajpur, two major cow shelters were identified: Gopal Gaushala, run by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, occupying 8.6 acres, and the Narain Gaushala, spread over 2.72 acres.

Despite the Supreme Court’s categorical directive to remove illegal structures used for non-forest activities without prior approval from the central government, none of these religious structures were touched. In an affidavit submitted to the court in August 2025, the Haryana government admitted to its hesitation, stating that the district committee had held “discussions with the Central Empowered Committee”, but was “awaiting further guidance” on the matter before taking action.

When we reached Radha Soami Satsang’s Haryana centre asking about the two structures, Arjun Kumar, a worker at the Sikanderpur centre replied, “None of the centres of the Radha Soami are illegal. They are all built on purchased land.” 

Constructions by govt

The other category of large violators were buildings constructed by the state – government agencies built structures on nearly 190 acres of PLPA-notified land. 

The biggest violator was the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP), the state’s urban planning authority, which had taken over about 159 acres in Ankhir and Mewla Maharajpur for its headquarters, residential plots, and high-rise buildings. 

Another 11 acres were utilised by the Haryana Tourism Department to construct the Faridabad Gymkhana Club – a recreational facility with swimming pools, a gymnasium, tennis and badminton courts, and a billiards room. 

Tourism complexes were built in Surajkund and Badkhal, both located within ecologically sensitive zones.

The Faridabad Municipal Corporation added its own footprint by building a valley park, a labour institute, a fire station, and a crime investigation police station – all on forest-notified land. 

All these structures too were spared, following a decision at a meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary of Haryana and the Additional Chief Secretary of Environment, Forest and Wildlife. It was resolved that these government agencies would apply for diversion of forest land for non-forestry purposes under Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam 1980. Officials decided these applications would be processed according to guidelines issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).

However, the CEC’s latest report submitted to the Supreme Court on August 29 makes no mention of whether any such clearance has actually been granted. 

Newslaundry sent questions to the Faridabad district forest officer Surender Singh Dangi. This report will be updated if a response is received.

Another set of structures that escaped the demolition drive were six educational institutions built on about 60 acres of forest land. These included Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies, MVN School, Aravalli International School, Chetanya School, Mother Hearted Sacred School, and Brij Mohan Lal Senior Secondary School.

Pending private proposals

According to the CEC, 22 ex post facto proposals for constructions by private entities were submitted for environmental clearance. Of these, 18 were rejected by the forest department.

Of the remaining four, two proposals linked to educational institutes are pending. A farmhouse was granted complete clearance whereas the Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies has been granted stage-1 approval.

The in-principle approval for Manav Rachna is for change of land use for 34 acres. But as per the list of encroachments prepared by the District Forest Officer of Faridabad in 2020, Manav Rachna occupies 35.18 acres of land. 

The stage-1 clearance for 34 acres was ex post facto – three years after the Supreme Court’s judgment – and with much less financial compensation, suggest documents.

If it was not an ex-post facto approval, the fine would have been much larger for using protected land. For example, as per the 2019 guidelines, the compensation would have been calculated from the actual date the forest land was used, with an additional 12 percent simple interest for each year of violation until the payment is made.  

However, the environment ministry’s advisory committee applied 2023 forest rules for calculating the fine for the Manav Rachna institute – as per which the financial compensation is calculated from the date the penalty demand was officially raised by the violator. The university paid a total penalty of just Rs 6.6 crore.

Newslaundry has sought clarification about the remaining 1.8 acres of land and the ex post facto clearance from the institute and the district forest officer. Newslaundry also reached out to the union environment ministry for comment. This report will be updated if a response is received.

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