Murree: The Murree Forest Division, in coordination with the district administration and the Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority, on Tuesday expanded its operation to reclaim forest land long occupied by private individuals.
The latest action took place on Lawrence College Road, where authorities moved against a decades-old residential structure built on roughly one-and-a-half kanals of forest land. Officials said the move is part of the Punjab government’s broader policy to restore state-owned forest areas and eliminate long-standing encroachments.
According to the Forest Department, the structure had been established illegally nearly seven to eight decades ago. Heavy machinery was deployed as part of the operation to ensure the land’s full recovery, and the drive remains underway.
This follows a major recovery carried out a few weeks earlier, during which authorities reclaimed 231 kanals of Murree State Forest land, valued at more than PKR 240 million. The department said the reclaimed area had been under illegal occupation for over thirty years and included residential buildings, commercial structures, poultry sheds, and boundary walls erected in violation of forest laws.
A spokesperson for the Forest Department, Majid Shamraiz, said the earlier operation was one of the largest conducted in Murree in recent years and marked a significant breakthrough in ongoing efforts to restore the ecological balance of the region.
Officials maintain that sustained land recovery is essential not only for enforcing environmental regulations but also for protecting the long-term stability of forest ecosystems. The department has vowed to continue its action against encroachments across Murree, with a focus on restoring all illegally occupied forest land.
Samra Zulfiqar, a real estate analyst at Zameen.com, is passionate about finding projects that offer buyers the best returns. Her keen insights spotlight the market’s most promising opportunities.
