Chandigarh, July 24 -- The department of water resources, Punjab, has told the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the forest department did not object when five liquor vends in Rupnagar and Ludhiana districts were leased through an open auction in July 2025, only to later identify the sites as protected forest land, forcing the department to cancel the leases and initiate eviction proceedings.

In its affidavit filed before the NGT on July 20, the department said the disputed sites were leased after unauthorised occupants had been evicted under the Punjab Public Premises and Land (Eviction and Rent Recovery) Act, 1973. It maintained that when the leases were executed through an open auction on July 7, 2025, the Forest Department had not r...