The observation has brought hope to hundreds of families who stay in this sensitive zone.

The fate of several such constructions have hung in balance after a court-appointed, hi-powered environment panel recommended the demolition of encroachments in posh localities such as Kant Enclave, Lake Wood View Properties and others owned by the Karmayogi Shelter Private Limited in Faridabad.

However, senior advocate Harish Salve — assisting the court as amicus curiae — argued there should be no demolition till the court decides on the matter. He also informed the court that authorities have started threatening residents with bulldozers.

Agreeing with him, Justice Arijit Pasayat, part of the three-member special bench, observed, “Demolition may not be the solution.”

Salve also argued the matter needs to be examined in detail since it involved two issues — the identification and utilisation of land and the concerns about mining in the area. Hearing him out, the forest bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, ordered, “Let the status quo be maintained.”

Friday’s interim direction means there will neither be any demolition nor any fresh construction till the matter is heard on March 18, the next date of hearing.

The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) in its report last month had recommended that it would treat the entire Aravalli range as “a prohibited zone for mining, barring specific locations, to ensure its environmental sustainability”. The report included satellite imagery identifying colonisation in the Aravalli zone.

In this report, rather damning for thousands of residents here, the CEC had also sought demolition of several colonies, farmhouses, banquet halls and other buildings. These buildings have been identified as illegal.

The CEC also made a case for closing down or revoking the lease of existing mining agreements.