New Delhi, Jul 29 The National Green Tribunal has directed the Delhi government to clear all illegal encroachments from a forest land in Saket within four months.
The green body was hearing a plea alleging that the land mafia is capturing a specific khasra number land, a designated forest land, in Saket’s Sadulajab locality and almost deforesting it, besides several private persons are encroaching upon it and raising illegal constructions.
In an order dated July 27, made available on Wednesday, a bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member Afroz Ahmad noted that the tribunal had earlier formed a joint committee, which in its report said that out of the original 19 bighas of forest land in the khasra number, only 6.12 bighas were physically found at the site.
The bench also noted that the committee’s report of August 2024 said that while revenue records and a 1996 notification designated the 19-bigha plot as a "reserved forest", no boundary pillars were visible, and the panel’s inspection found permanent structures, including a temple, a large platform or 'chabutra', and building extensions encroaching upon the land.
The report also highlighted a permanent loss of tree canopy in a portion of the land. Besides, the site was found littered with piles of garbage and plastic waste, posing a choking hazard to local wildlife, including birds and squirrels, the bench further noted.
The tribunal took note of the submissions of the counsel for the Delhi government, according to which demolition notices had been earlier issued but were challenged in the Delhi High Court in 2025, following which the constitutional court directed the forest settlement officer to hear the claims of the occupants and pass a speaking order.
It said, noting the submissions, that these applications filed under the India Forest Act had been dismissed by the officer on May 7, 2026, following which “now the action will be initiated for removal of encroachments”.
“Let the exercise of removal of encroachment from Khasra No. 209 Sadulajab, Saket be completed within four months, in accordance with law by duly following the principles of natural justice,” the tribunal said, disposing of the petition.
