Municipal Corporation of Gurugram tightens grip on illegal construction in Aravallis

<p id="content">After Supreme Court took cognizance over the illegal construction of farmhouses on Aravalli range here, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has started to identify farmhouses, adventure parks, banquet halls and other buildings which were constructed in parts of Sohna after 2015, when Sohna came under the corporation.</p>
According to MCG officials, for any construction in urban areas, approval from the MCG is required for changes to land use and building plan.

Recently teams from the Municipal Corporation and the Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) demolished 19 such illegally constructed farmhouses in Bandhwari village for encroaching the protected areas of the Aravalli region as none of the farmhouse owners had obtained approval from the concerned department.

"The civic body will identify an encroachment on the hills with the help of the high-resolution, remote-sensing satellite images through the National Remote Sensing Agency in the Gurugram region. For this, we have also given the necessary directions to the district's forest department dispatched drawing of villages located on Aravalli range here," said an MCG official on condition of anonymity.

Out of a total of 1.25 lakh sq km area of Aravalli hills in Haryana, the illegal construction is been done on 2,500 acres of land.

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Several notifications have already been issued by multiple agencies to stop and protect the Aravalli area from illegal activity but farmhouses were been constructed in violation of the notification.

In June, Sohna Municipal Committee had served notices to around 450 farmhouses in the Ansal Aravalli Retreat and Golden Heights for constructing farmhouses on "gair mumkin pahar" (uncultivable hill).

As per the Aravalli Notification of 1991, no construction is allowed on uncultivable hills. The notices were served to these farmhouses as per the October 2018 direction of NGT.

However, the owner of the farmhouse claimed that the development took place before the Aravalli notification hence they didn't violate any law..