₹10-lakh exercise to urgently clean Sukhna Lake planned

CHANDIGARH: Taking note of the increase in water level of Sukhna Lake, the UT administration has decided to spend ₹10 lakh on immediate cleaning of the water resource.

The officials of the UT engineering department said that though cleaning was annual work, the present drive was an urgent exercise because of flooding caused by the release of excess water from Sukhna flood gates. “The high court has also issued guidelines from time to time regarding the cleaning of Sukhna Lake. The heavy growth of weeds and garbage lower the water storage capacity of the lake. Last year, a private agency hired by the engineering department had begun cleaning in October, but had to suspend it with the lockdown in March this year,” said a senior department official, wishing not to be named.

The department has now floated a fresh tender, and after the work is allotted, it will take another six months to complete.

On August 23, the flood gates had to be opened after the water level crossed the danger mark of 1,163 feet. The resulting discharge wreaked havoc down the Sukhna choe in the low-lying areas of Baltana in Zirakpur, Mohali. There was widespread damage and several areas were submerged in 8-10 feet flood water. In Chandigarh, too, bridges built on the choe had to be closed to traffic.