The Nainital district administration on Sunday demolished 52 houses in the Terai West division of Ramnagar, Uttarakhand, saying the structures were built on Reserved Forest land.

The work started around 5 am, with a large number of police personnel at the spot. Many residents, including women, said they were taken away by the police to stations almost 30 km away.

Divisional Forest Officer Prashant Arya said the families had been given notices and several hearings were held before the demolition.
“We have given the residents ample time to prove ownership. This patch of land is part of 200 hectares of forest land that has been encroached upon. On Sunday, 25 hectares were cleared, affecting properties of 52 households,” he said.

A total of 170 families have received eviction orders. Around 40 households went to the High Court seeking a stay. Arya said the administration removed only those structures that were not protected by the court.

Residents and activists who were detained said otherwise. They claimed that even some homes covered under the stay order were damaged.

Deepak Tiwari, one of the 17 people detained, said his family should have been protected by the court order.
“I ran to the officers with the order, but they claimed that the stay was only for the house and not the land. They dumped garbage over our agricultural land,” he said.

Local lawyer Prabhat Dhyani said the stay covered the entire land, not just the house, and added that claims under the Forest Rights Act had not been settled yet, which made the demolition unlawful in his view.

While Arya said many structures were built in the past 15 years, residents shared a different story.
Deepak Tiwari said his family has lived in Puchhdi village since his father settled there in 1967, when he was a child.

The area was blocked for the media and the public when the demolition began. Bulldozers and excavators entered the village at dawn, along with a heavy police deployment.

Last year, when the forest department issued notices, 50–60 families moved out on their own.
Arya said the encroachments were near the Kosi River, an important wildlife zone. “There have been many orders and guidelines regarding encroachment near rivers. The area is also a crucial wildlife habitat,” he said.

The drive is expected to continue after more hearings later this month. Officials say almost 200 hectares, where nearly 700 families live, are considered forest land.

In a press note, Nainital police said the action was in line with the Chief Minister’s goal of an “encroachment-free Uttarakhand and action against demographic change.”

The note said: “A joint team of Nainital police and the administration carried out strict action against identified illegal encroachments on the Reserved Forest land of the Forest Department. All encroachers had been served notices as per the rules. At dawn, with strong police forces, the administrative team and bulldozers on site, the illegal structures were demolished.”

Police said officers would remain stationed in Puchhdi to maintain order and are also monitoring social media for any inflammatory posts.