HC fines Punjab, Hry ₹100 cr each

CHANDIGARH: Punjab and Haryana on Monday were fined ~100 crore each for causing damage to the catchment area of Sukhna Lake.

The Punjab and Haryana high court bench of justices Rajiv Sharma and HS Sidhu also ordered the demolition of all the structures in the catchment area and ordered that those whose building plans were approved would be relocated and compensated with ~25 lakh each.

The order came in a 2009 suo motu petition initiated over the depleting water level in the lake. The lake was created by Le Corbusier in 1958. By 1988, 66% of the original water holding capacity of the lake was lost due to silting. Though check dams were constructed in the catchment area, the water level has again started going down. The lake has the capacity of 500 hectare-metres against the original capacity of over 1,074 hectare metres.

The ~200 crore fine would be deposited with the ministry of environment, forest within three months and would be utilized for restoration of the lake.

The court also declared Sukhna as a living entity. The chief secretaries of both the states and adviser, Chandigarh, have been asked to constitute high-power committees to fix responsibilities of the officers who permitted large scale unauthorized construction.

The Chandigarh administration has been directed to declare Sukhna Lake as wetland. Punjab and Haryana too have been directed to declare areas falling under their jurisdiction as wetland. The ministry of environment, forest has been directed to notify at least 1 km area from the boundary of Sukhna Lake Wildlife Sanctuary as eco-sensitive zone.