Just over a week after the Punjab and Haryana High Court admonished the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) for failing to present a “complete picture” on unauthorised constructions across SAS Nagar district including Siswan village, the authority today placed on record a fresh status report identifying 193 violators in de-listed forest land across 15 villages and detailing demolition and prosecution steps initiated.The additional affidavit, filed by Chief Administrator Sakshi Sawhney, stated that while the Forest Department had earlier identified 182 violations in areas forming part of de-listed forest land, the number of violators had now risen to 193 following a detailed survey conducted by GMADA’s Regulatory Branch.“As of now, 193 violators have been identified in the de-listed forest land in the 15 villages and further, the process to survey all unauthorized constructions in de-listed forest land falling within the jurisdiction of GMADA in SAS Nagar district is still continuing, which would be completed by March 31, and appropriate action as per law shall be taken accordingly,” the affidavit said.The authority added that, in the rest of SAS Nagar district, 29 demolition drives had been carried out over the past six months, resulting in the demolition of around 300 unauthorised structures.The High Court had earlier flagged a glaring inconsistency between figures placed on record by the Forest Department and GMADA. While the Forest Department reported 182 defaulters, GMADA’s earlier affidavit referred to only 28 constructions at Siswan village. Observing the mismatch, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Neerja Kulwant Kalson had remarked: “There appears to be inconsistency between both these replies to the extent that the Forest Department has filed reply mentioning that there are 182 defaulters, but the reply filed on behalf of GMADA reveals that there are only 28 such defaulters.”The Bench had then directed: “Let GMADA file proper reply mentioning all the defaulters in entire district of SAS Nagar (Mohali).”On the previous date of hearing, the authority was admonished after senior advocate DS Patwalia and counsel Gauravjit S Patwalia described the status report as “evasive”, pointing out that though notices were said to have been issued, the affidavit did not specify dates or indicate concrete action in the remarks column.In the fresh affidavit, GMADA stated that of the 15 villages under scrutiny, three — Parol, Sultanpur and Majra — fell under the New Chandigarh Master Plan, where the Additional Chief Administrator was empowered to carry out demolition of illegal structures.The remaining 12 villages fell under the Regional Plan. The affidavit clarified that under Section 69 of the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act, 1995, there was no provision for demolition for violations of the Regional Plan. Instead, after issuance of notices, complaints had been forwarded to the Senior Superintendent of Police, SAS Nagar, for registration of FIRs.The status report further indicated that two illegal structures had already been removed. Demolition of another unauthorised construction, scheduled for February 16, could not be carried out due to non-availability of police personnel and had now been rescheduled for February 20 with a request for police assistance and deputation of a duty magistrate.In 13 cases involving violations of the Regional Plan, complaints had been sent to the SSP for registration of FIRs. In 11 other cases, show-cause proceedings had been finalised and demolition orders passed, failing which FIRs would be lodged in terms of Section 69 of the 1995 Act.
