New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal has imposed an interim stay on the Punjab government’s farmhouse policy, dealing a significant setback to influential individuals who were expected to benefit from the decision. The tribunal has put the policy on hold till February 4 next year.
The stayed policy permitted construction within a fixed area per acre on delisted forest land in Punjab’s Kandi region. The Department of Housing and Urban Development had issued a notification allowing such construction on November 20. The decision was widely seen as benefiting politicians and senior bureaucrats who had either already built or were planning to build farmhouses in the ecologically sensitive region.
The notification was challenged before the NGT on November 23 by the Council of Engineers. Council president Kapil Arora said the tribunal has found prima facie violations of Supreme Court directions and guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. He pointed out that the state government allowed construction without conducting a mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment, a key requirement under environmental regulations.
The Kandi region, situated in the Shivalik foothills, was earlier protected under the Punjab Land Preservation Act of 1900. A petition filed in the Supreme Court in 1995 led to a landmark verdict in 2005, under which certain areas were delisted from forest cover but only under strict conditions. The apex court had permitted only agricultural activities or livelihood-related work for local residents in these delisted zones.
Following the verdict, the Union Ministry of Environment delisted 56,050 hectares of land in the Kandi region, although the Punjab government had sought delisting of 65,270 hectares. In 2010, the Punjab Chief Secretary excluded the Forest Department from the delisted land, but the Union Environment Ministry clarified in 2015 that such land could not be used for commercial or non-agricultural purposes.
Despite these restrictions, construction of farmhouses by influential individuals continued in the region, leading to the registration of a case against a farmhouse owner in 2022. In November this year, the Punjab government issued a fresh notification allowing limited construction per acre, a move that has now been stalled following the NGT’s interim order.
