The Punjab Government will demarcate hundreds of acres of land that had been taken out of the purview of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), 1900.The action follows the state government being pulled up the Punjab and Haryana High Court regarding the alleged violations and commercial activity on delisted forest land and the authorities failing to comply with the conditions imposed by the Supreme Court while delisting the forest land.The conditions stipulate that no commercial activity is permitted on such land, which must be used solely for bona fide agricultural purposes to sustain landowners’ livelihoods. Officials privy to the development said while demarcating the land, the then Punjab Chief Secretary in 2009 had directed the Forest Department and Housing and Local Government to demarcate the delisted land from the area still locked under the PLPA.But the exercise was never carried out, resulting in unauthorised constructions coming up in delisted land pockets, abutting the forest areas with rich flora and fauna in eco-sensitive low Shivalik foothills.Now, the Revenue Department has been asked to hire retired revenue officials to carry out the demarcation exercise, so that the revenue entries are updated and the delisted area is marked on the Shajra maps (detailed village revenue maps with khasra numbers). The directions were issued in a recent meeting chaired by Chief Secretary KAP Sinha.Officials privy to the development said the demarcation and updation of the revenue records was being done for nearly 4,157 hectares of delisted land in Mohali district alone.A total of 55,000 hectares of land falling in the eco-fragile lower Shivalik Hills that is part of Mohali, Ropar, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur districts had been taken out of the purview of the PLPA in 2009, based on the Supreme Court directions and subsequent approvals from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Incidentally, a number VIPs, including politicians, and serving and retired bureaucrats who have raised alleged illegal construction in the area have either been issued demolition notices or face FIRs registered under the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act, 1995, and the Punjab New Capital Periphery (Control) Act, 1952.In the last six months, 35 demolition drives, removing around 450 unauthorised structures have been undertaken in Mohali districtNew mechanism set upTo strengthen inter department coordination on checking violations in the delisted/ listed areas, all departments have been instructed to appoint nodal officers, including SDMs, police officials and engineers from key departments. The GMADA’s ACA (Regulatory) will act as a central point to ensure timely action on complaints..