The Murree Forest Division, working alongside the District Administration and the Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority, launched a new operation on Tuesday along Lawrence College Road to reclaim forest land long occupied by illegal construction.
Authorities demolished a residential building that had stood on roughly one and a half kanals of forest land for nearly seven to eight decades. The action is part of the Punjab government’s broader policy to recover encroached forest property and restore natural forest landscapes. The operation will continue until full retrieval of the area is completed.
This latest move follows a major land recovery drive conducted a few weeks earlier, during which the government reclaimed 231 kanals of Murree State Forest land valued at more than Rs240 million. That operation targeted a range of illegal structures, including homes, commercial buildings, poultry sheds, and boundary walls built inside forest zones.
Forest Department spokesperson Majid Shamraiz described the earlier campaign as one of the most significant in recent years, noting that much of the recovered land had been under unlawful occupation for over 30 years. He added that sustained efforts are crucial for removing entrenched encroachments and protecting the ecological balance of Murree’s forests.
The department emphasised that ongoing land recovery operations are vital not only for enforcing the rule of law but also for ensuring the long-term environmental health and stability of forested areas.
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