Residents claim new HC building falls in Sukhna catchment

Senior lawyer of the residents raised the issue and requested the division bench to take up the matter on ‘its administrative side’.

Reacting to this,the Bench responded “let it also be demolished”. The issue was raised during the resumed hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) demanding protection of Sukhna lake from deterioration.

A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice M M Kumar and Justice Alok Singh made it clear that any effort made by the Punjab government to not allow water in the Sukhna lake will be ‘repelled strongly’.

Challenging the catchment defined in a map by the Archaeological Survey of India,Punjab Advocate General Ashok Aggarwal said that Punjab had sought redefining of the catchment area. Aggarwal added that Sukhna is a man-made lake and that question of a catchment area does not arise.

Sanjay Kaushal,senior standing counsel for UT Administration,said that the objections raised by Punjab government stand rejected by the committee constituted to protect Sukhna lake.

Adjourning the case till July,the HC has sought a report on authorised and unauthorised construction till March 14,2011,when building activity in the catchment area was prohibited.

Kansal village was never intended to serve as Sukhna’s catchment: Punjab

In an affidavit,filed by special secretary in the department of local government,Vinod Kumar Bhalla,has said: “The area of Kansal and Kaimbwala villages were never intended to serve as catchment area. Even if Kansal area is part of the natural catchment,it was never intended to be reserved as such at the time of formation of the lake”.

The affidavit reads: “The course of Kansal river was diverted. Had the plain area of Kansal and Kaimbwala village been intended to serve as catchment,there would have been no need to divert the river,which was flowing into and converging with Sukhna choe”.

Bhalla also questioned UT’s concerns. “The plain area of Kansal will only form a total of four per cent of the catchment area,out of which about 232 acres is in the form of vacant pockets at various locations.”

Bhalla added: “It is not understood as to why the entire focus of the UT is concentrated on less than two per cent area”.