E-Paper
Sukhna Lake: High court seeks names from govts, institutes for demarcation of catchment area
The Punjab and Haryana high court has sought names of nominees from the Punjab and Haryana governments, UT administration and institutes for the committee to be constituted to determine the catchment area of Sukhna lake
The Punjab and Haryana high court has sought names of nominees from the Punjab and Haryana governments, UT administration and institutes for the committee to be constituted to determine the catchment area of Sukhna lake.
The names were sought as the Survey of India (SOI) in its affidavit defended the accuracy of its demarcation of Sukhna catchment area in 2004. But, it had suggested that a group of expert hydrologists and UT engineering department could decide whether the catchment area was demarcated suitably or not.
SOI’s statement has come in response to a review plea filed by Punjab after HC had ordered imposition of a ₹100 crore fine each on Punjab and Haryana for causing damage to the catchment area and ordered demolition of all the structures in it as demarcated by SOI in 2004.
The high court’s order had come in March 2020 in a 2009 suo motu petition initiated amid depleting water levels in the lake. The Punjab government’s argument was that there was no consensus ever drawn regarding veracity of the 2004 map prepared by SOI, according to which court has given its order. The map was questioned as well as objected to, not only regarding its technical aspects in terms of accuracy, but its adoption was also disputed, Punjab had said. It was on this plea that high court had sought response from SOI.
The high court bench of justice AG Masih and justice HS Sidhu, while posting the matter for October 28, requested the head of department, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee; head of department of department of hydrology, Panjab University; head of department of Survey of India; UT administration; Punjab and Haryana to submit the nominees for being a part of the committee by the next date of hearing.
About the lake
In March 2020 judgment, the high court had declared Sukhna Lake a living entity. The review plea was filed in December 2020, after which HC stayed recovery of fine from the two governments.
Synonymous with the city, the lake was created by Le Corbusier in 1958. By 1988, 66% of the original water holding capacity of the lake was lost due to silting. Following this, check dams were constructed in the catchment area. But, the water-level has once again started dipping. The man-made lake now has a capacity of around 500 hectare-metres against the original capacity of over 1,074 hectare metres. The lake’s depth is 12-13 feet. On the north side, it is surrounded by a 26 square kilometre wildlife sanctuary.
