Sukhna sanctuary: Supreme Court directs green ministry to finalise Punjab’s ESZ draft in 3 months
The Punjab cabinet on April 11 had approved the ESZ limit ranging between 100 metres and 3 km around different parts of the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary sanctuary
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) to finalise notification of the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary on the Punjab side within three months.
During a hearing on Wednesday, the Punjab government informed the court that the state cabinet had approved the ESZ limit ranging between 100 metres and 3 km around different parts of the sanctuary, as stated in the affidavit submitted during the previous hearing on March 19, 2025.
This draft notification in this regard has been sent to the green ministry for final approval, the court was informed.
Ministry representatives present in the court acknowledged that they had recently received the proposal.
Disposing of the case, the top court directed the ministry to finalise the ESZ notification for Punjab within three months.
In the earlier hearing, the advocate general of Punjab had submitted that the state had proposed the ESZ limit around the sanctuary to remain at 100 metres to 3 km for the Nayagaon municipal committee area, instead of the 2024 proposal of 1 to 3 km.
For villages outside the Nayagaon municipal committee, the ESZ will range between 1 and 3 km. These include Perch, Karoran and Seonk, the court was apprised.
As per Supreme Court directives, permanent structures cannot be constructed within an ESZ for any purpose. Moreover, no commercial construction is allowed within a 0.5 km radius outside the ESZ. In the range of 0.5 km to 1.25 km, construction of low-density and low-rise buildings up to 15 feet is permissible. Beyond 1.25 km, new building construction, including houses, is allowed.
Thus, the 2024 proposal by the Punjab forest department had evoked strong opposition from residents who feared that a 3-km ESZ around Nayagaon would lead to demolition of numerous structures, including houses, shops, hospitals, religious places and hotels in Nayagaon, Kansal, Chhoti Karoran and Nada.
The matter reached the Supreme Court in November 2024, with the apex court directing the Punjab government to consider the concerns of the plot holders before taking a final decision.
The residents’ petition was part of an ongoing case since 1995 concerning eco-sensitive zones across the country.
In line with the top court’s order, the state government established a public redressal committee comprising cabinet ministers Lal Chand Kataruchak, Ravjot Singh and Hardeep Singh Mundian.
At a subsequent public hearing conducted by the committee on December 4, 2024, over 100 objections were submitted by residents, councillors and organisations.
On February 21, the committee members met chief minister Bhagwant Mann, who directed them to re-examine public representations and suggestions. The committee reconvened on March 4 and decided to scale back the ESZ to 100 metres in the areas under Nayagaon municipal committee area, which finally got the cabinet nod on April 11, much to the relief of over 2 lakh residents.
The Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary spread over 25.98 square km (about 6,420 acres), is under the administrative control of the Union territory of Chandigarh and shares its boundaries with Haryana and Punjab. The sanctuary is located in the Shivalik foothills, which are considered ecologically sensitive and geologically unstable.
In January 2017, Chandigarh had declared an area varying from 2 km to 2.75 km from the sanctuary boundary that falls within UT as ESZ, which was notified by the environment ministry the same year.
Even on Haryana side, an area of 1 km up to 2.035 km around the sanctuary was demarcated as ESZ by the ministry in November 2024.
