50% area of the 11,000-acre Pinjore-Kalka project now falls in eco-sensitive zone as Centre issues notification

With a recent notification from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest declaring a large area near Morni as ‘eco sensitive zone’, the ambitious Pinjore-Kalka urban complex project of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has run into troubled waters.

According to the notification, a copy of which is with Chandigarh Newsline, the area within a 5-kilometre radius of the Bir Shikargarh wildlife sanctuary at Morni has been declared as ‘eco sensitive zone’, restricting all kinds of construction and industrial activities. Almost 50 per cent of the 11,000-acre urban complex project falls in this zone.

Thirty one new sectors had been proposed under the project, for which the process of land acquisition was already on. “We recently received a notification from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, which says a 5-km area around all wildlife sanctuaries in Haryana have been declared as ‘eco sensitive zones’. No construction, mining or industrial activity can now be carried out in the area around Bir Shikargarh wildlife sanctuary in Morni,” said a senior HUDA official.

The proposal for the urban complex, also known as Panchkula Extension (I), was mooted around five years ago, while the plan was approved in 2007. “A modern township with residential, commercial, institutional sectors, IT, industrial sectors was envisaged. A proposal to build proper ring roads for the area was also made. But with the new notification, we are back to square one,” said the official.

... contd.