CHANDIGARH: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has extended its restraint on the AAP-led Punjab government’s Low Impact Green Housing (LIGH) Policy, 2025, ruling that no action or construction approvals can proceed until the formal demarcation of land under the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA) is fully completed.
The policy, which was notified on November 20, 2025, aimed to regulate and regularise low-impact residential farmhouses on plots measuring 4,000 square yards on lands delisted from the PLPA.
It covers roughly 55,000 hectares across ecologically fragile zones in Mohali, Ropar, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur, particularly within the Shivalik-Kandi belt. The policy was challenged before the NGT by the Public Action Committee (PAC), which questioned its provisions in relation to land delisted from the PLPA, 1900.
In its September 18 order, which was uploaded on September 28, the tribunal stated that the Punjab government had submitted that the demarcation process was in progress and that no action would be taken until the exercise was completed.
The state also sought continuation of the statement made before the tribunal on December 18, 2025, which was recorded by the bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member Dr Afroz Ahmad. It also said other issues relating to the merits of the challenge would be considered after the requisite reports were placed on record.
During the hearing, senior counsel appearing for Punjab submitted that the government had subsequently amended the policy through a notification dated April 7, 2026. Under the amendment, the portion of Condition 11 referring to consideration of the Eco Tourism Policy, 2009, and monitoring by the Forest Department was deleted.
Condition 18 was also deleted, while the remaining conditions of the November 2025 policy were retained. According to the state’s submissions recorded in the proceedings, the main grievance in the connected matter concerned the commercial use of land that had been delisted through notifications dated August 26, 2011, and July 24, 2009.
The NGT has made it clear that the other substantive issues concerning the policy will be considered after the necessary reports are placed on record. The matter has been listed for December 14.
According to the figures cited in the case, around 3.26 lakh acres in Punjab fall under the PLPA.