HC passes order to find out extent of Sukhna choe

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday appointed Advocate H C Arora as a local commissioner to submit a report relating to the existence and extent of area under Sukhna Choe.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday appointed Advocate H C Arora as a local commissioner to submit a report relating to the existence and extent of area under Sukhna Choe. The directions were passed by a division bench during the resumed hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Jaswant Singh of Baltana seeking directions to Punjab and other respondents to take immediate steps to stop unauthorised or illegal constructions and narrowing down of Sukhna Choe in Baltana village.

The petitioner has stated that Sukhna Choe was a natural system of drainage of rain water running since times immemorial and that such a natural drainage system must be protected from encroachments. The petitioner had levelled allegations that Punjab had failed to discharge its statutory duty of preventing the occurrence of floods due to illegal constructions in the area of Sukhna Choe.

Punjab,in its short written statement,had contended that the process to notify Sukhna choe under Section 55 of the Canal and Drainage Act,1873 has been initiated,and that after the notification under Section 55 is issued,the concerned authorities will be authorised to stop any kind of obstruction for free flow of water and only thereafter the necessary action to stop encroachment by land developers and property dealers will be taken as per law.

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Faced with this situation regarding factual dispute about the area covered under Sukhna Choe and the extent of encroachments over it,the High Court appointed Advocate H C Arora as a Local Commissioner for submitting a factual report about the existence/extent of area covered under Sukhna choe.

The local commissioner has been empowered to interact with the concerned Revenue Officers for the purpose of submitting his report on the basis of the revenue records. The officers of the Revenue Department have also been directed to extend cooperation and assistance to the local commissioner who has been directed to submit his report to the High Court within six weeks. The case has been adjourned to May 4.

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