Residents of Anangpur village in Haryana’s Faridabad are protesting a demolition drive by the state’s Forest Department that threatens the removal of their shops and houses. The drive by the district administration is in compliance with a 2022 Supreme Court ruling, which directed that all unauthorised structures built on forest land protected under Section 4 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA) should be removed.

The SC directive stated that the first phase of the demolition drive should start with identifying and removing unauthorised structures in the villages of Ankhir, Mewla Mahrajpur, Anangpur, and Lakarpur in the district of Faridabad. Following the SC order, approximately 5,938 houses and small shops spread across 188 acres of land in these villages have been identified, according to an Action Taken Report (ATR) filed by the state government. 

The SC in July 2022 had ruled that “all the concerned authorities shall take action to remove the remaining illegal structures standing on land covered by the special orders and used for non-forest activities… without prior approval of the Central Government.” The court further said, “At the first stage, the unauthorised structures in villages Ankhir, Mewla Mahrajpur, Anangpur and Lakarpur in the district Faridabad, required to be removed from forest areas, need to be identified. Therefore, there is a need to establish the procedure for the identification of unauthorised structures in forest land.”

However, since 2022, not much action was taken by the state government on the ground. But in December 2024, a ground-truthing exercise by the state government identified 6,793 unauthorised structures built across 786.26 acres of land in the four villages. There were 5,948 illegal structures in Anangpur village alone, while 339 such structures were found in Ankhir, 313 in Lakkarpur. Most of the land area in these villages is occupied by commercial structures. Following this exercise in April 2025, the SC increased the timeline to comply with its July 2022 order till 31 July 2025. 

Following the SC order, the Haryana government started the demolition process. In the first phase of the demolition drive, 241 structures spread over an area of about 261 acres in the four villages have already been demolished as of July 1. Initially, only commercial structures, including farmhouses, banquet halls, and marriage gardens, have been demolished to clear a larger land area under the PLPA, the government said in an action taken report (ATR). The report also stated that there is resentment among the residents of the villages against the demolition drive that also targets their houses and small shops. 

In an incident on July 2, the residents of Anangpur village allegedly pelted stones at the government officials during a demolition drive in Anangpur, the Times of India reported. In response, the police arrested three people, who were allegedly responsible for inciting the group of residents and attacking government officials.

"As officials carried out the demolition, a mob began pelting stones at the demolition team and other staff members, causing injuries and disrupting government work. Several official vehicles were also damaged during the attack," a police officer told Times of India. A case was registered at Surajkund police station under sections 121 (1) (voluntarily causing hurt), 132 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 190 (unlawful assembly), 191(2) (rioting), 221 (obstructing public servant in discharge of duty), 222 (3a) public servant when bound by law to assist) and 324 (4) (mischief).

On 14 July, the village residents also organised the “Anangpur Mahapanchayat,” where huge crowds from several villages gathered to protest against the forest department’s drive to “destroy centuries-old settlements and villages.”

The village residents also filed a petition dated 17 July 2025, mentioning that as per the order of the SC, 5700 houses of village residents across have been identified. “The ownership of this land vests with local villagers as per revenue records… the said villagers cannot be located to some other place as the land in question constitutes the sole holding of these villagers and they do not own or possess any alternative residential land either in Faridabad District or adjoining,” the petition said. The villagers, through the petition, also “requested to consider the peculiar facts of village Anangpur….and either regularising the said area or to keep out the said area out of the purview of PLPA.”

Earlier in 2019, the Supreme Court stayed the amendments to the 119-year-old Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), admonishing the Haryana government for passing the amendment bill in "sheer contempt of court". The apex court termed the government's move a "misadventure" and accused it of destroying forests. Environmentalists hailed the court's order while property owners and real estate developers objected to the verdict.