Chandigarh admn to conduct aerial survey of Sukhna catchment area

UT administrator VPS Badnore accompanied by adviser Manoj Kumar Parida and other senior officials will be surveying the area in a chopper.

In the wake of the high court order on the preservation of the Sukhna catchment area and demolition of all structures lying in it, the UT administration has decided to conduct an aerial survey.

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UT administrator VPS Badnore accompanied by adviser Manoj Kumar Parida and other senior officials will be surveying the area in a chopper.

“The aerial survey will be done next week,” said Parida. “It will help in bringing clarity on the spread of the catchment area and the constructions there.”

Significantly, the administration is still not clear about the exact boundaries of the catchment area, even though the UT environment department claims to have conducted groundtoothing of the map — prepared by the Survey of India — in 2019. It was this map of the catchment area prepared in 2004 that formed the basis of the HC order last Monday. However, the administration claimed it has sought a better resolution map.

Two villages – Khuda Ali Sher and Kaimbwala — and some parts of the sectoral grid of the city fall within the catchment area. Parida said though there are not many violations in areas falling under the UT, the administration would be making sure that the HC order is fully implemented. The decision comes at a time when the UT has decided not to appeal against the order.