Gurgaon: A day after TOI reported illegal fencing, land levelling and construction inside Damdama Lake catchment, the forest department on Monday launched a drive to remove encroachments from the protected area.Teams reached the site with earthmovers and dismantled fences around the levelled land. Moving along a road inside the catchment, the machinery pulled down sections of green chain-link fencing and metal sheets installed along the boundary of land parcel.“The machines were also used to push aside poles and clear debris from the roadside. The drive was carried out along the dirt track carved through the catchment areas, with thorny shrubs and rocky soil visible along edges of the road that runs parallel to the lake’s basin,” a forest official said.Forest officials said the department will continue to monitor the site to prevent further encroachment in the protected catchment.The TOI report flagged fresh land alteration in the catchment, a zone protected under sections 4 and 5 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), which prohibit non-forest activity without prior approval.During the site visit, TOI found nearly 10 acres of scrub forest levelled and fenced with green chain-link and metal sheets. A semi-permanent red-roof structure, an electricity pole and an overhead power line were also seen inside the enclosed parcel, suggesting a power connection had been extended to the site.The report further noted that a kuccha road cut through the catchment had nearly doubled in length over the past three years to about 3km. Earlier measured at around 1.5km in 2021 and 2023, the road now runs along the lake’s basin and links newly raised structures.Damdama Lake, the only surviving Aravali foothill lake, relies on a nearly 5,000-acre catchment that channels monsoon runoff from the surrounding hills into the 62-acre waterbody. The catchment also plays a key role in groundwater recharge for Sohna and Gurgaon.Environmentalists welcomed the move. “Forest officials should conduct regular inspections in Aravali areas, remove unauthorised structures, and issue a warning that fencing and land levelling inside the catchment can disrupt natural drainage channels and weaken the recharge system that feeds Damdama Lake,” said environmentalist Vivek Kamboj.
