More than four years after ordering the destruction of unlawful buildings near the lake, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued a strict instruction for the immediate delineation of the Sukhna Lake catchment area.
The High Court campus may be located inside the catchment area, which affected the implementation of the 2020 demolition order. This is the reason behind the court’s decision. A panel of experts has been tasked with determining the overlap, if any, between the High Court grounds and the lake’s catchment.
Any overlap was not significant at the time because the first High Court building was built before Sukhna Lake was created. However, the later construction of a new wing with an auditorium and other buildings makes one wonder if it complies with the requirements regarding catchment areas.
The matter was first suggested in September 2022, and the court voiced its unhappiness with the length of time that had passed before a committee to handle it. It has given Panjab University, Punjab, and Haryana a tight deadline of one week to choose their nominations, failing which it will take coercive measures.
The High Court ruled in March 2020 that Sukhna Lake was a legitimate entity and that all unauthorised buildings within its catchment area had to be demolished. This decision was a historic one. Punjab and Haryana were hit with a heavy punishment of Rs 200 crore in addition to the ruling. The prohibition against building new structures inside the catchment area persisted even after a stay on the demolition was eventually granted.
The designation of the catchment area is viewed as a critical step towards guaranteeing the lake’s biological integrity and avoiding additional encroachments, particularly while the legal struggle to safeguard Sukhna Lake rages on.
