Mohali, March 19 -- Acting on the recommendation of the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), the Mohali police have registered 35 FIRs in connection with widespread illegal construction of farmhouses on de-notified forest land in Siswan near New Chandigarh, a locality in the foothills of Shivalik range in Mohali district.

The FIRs, lodged under Section 12 of the Punjab Capital Act, 1952, come in the backdrop of ongoing proceedings before the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC), where the issue of illegal constructions on de-listed forest land has come under judicial scrutiny.

In an additional affidavit filed in February this year, GMADA chief administrator Sakshi Sawhney had informed the court that while the forest departme...