Forest land eviction drive in Kotkhai: Total of 2,160 Apple and Pear trees removed in three days
Old photo. Used for indicative purpose only
Shimla, July 14 ,
The large-scale operation to reclaim forest land in Himachal Pradesh’s Kotkhai region entered its third consecutive day on Sunday, with the Special Operation Procedure (SOP) team cutting down 831 apple and pear trees in Village Chaithla of Gram Panchayat Pandali.
The action is being carried out under judicial monitoring following the Himachal Pradesh High Court’s recent directive to clear all illegal orchards from encroached forest land.
Today’s operation targeted encroachments by Rampyari Vikrant, Sandeep, Pramod, Pradeep, Raj Kumar, Layak Ram, Sanjay, Pratap, Ramlal Kapil, and Madan Gopal, who had allegedly planted commercial orchards by occupying forest land unlawfully. Officials stated that some of the trees felled were as old as 70 years, indicating decades of unauthorized occupation.
The felling work, was conducted under heavy security presence. Despite the sensitive nature of the drive, the law and order situation remained calm and peaceful, according to district officials.
This latest action adds to the mounting toll of trees cleared in the Kotkhai eviction drive, which began on July 12 when 93 apple trees . 664 apple and pear trees and Total 757 trees. On July 13 around 418 apple trees, 53 pear trees and one peach tree (multiple individuals) and total 472 trees and today on July 14, around 831 apple and pear trees (ten individuals.
From (12–14 July 2025) total 2,060 apple and pear trees, and 1 peach tree removed from encroached forest land.
The ongoing action is part of compliance with the July 2, 2025 judgment passed by a Division Bench of Justices Vivek Singh Thakur and Bipin C. Negi in CWPIL No. 17 of 2024 and CWPIL No. 9 of 2015. The court had strongly criticized repeated attempts by evicted individuals to reoccupy forest land and ordered that all non-forest species, especially commercial apple orchards, be removed. It also instructed that the cost of felling and replantation with forest species be recovered from the encroachers as arrears of land revenue.
District Magistrate Anupam Kashyap had earlier invoked Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, restricting firearm possession in Chaithla village to prevent any breach of peace during the eviction process.
The district administration is continuing to monitor the situation closely, with further action likely in the coming days.
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