The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday issued a stay order on the demolition of residential and commercial structures built in the Sukhna Lake catchment area.
The bench led by Jaswant Singh of Punjab and Haryana high court further directed no further construction work in the Sukhna Lake catchment area. The next hearing on the matter will be on March 18, 2021.
A division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had passed a judgement on March 2 to demolish residential and commercial structures built in the Sukhna Lake catchment area, falling in some parts of Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab.
More than 2,500 residents of affected areas had held a meeting in Kansal and decided to fight the orders. The High Court has also slapped a fine of ₹100 crore each on Punjab and Haryana for causing damage to the catchment area of Sukhna Lake and ordered demolition of all structures in its catchment area that were demarcated by the Survey of India in 2004.
The court also ordered the two governments and UT administration to relocate owners whose building plans have already been approved and pay them ₹25 lakh compensation each. Demolition would have to be carried out in Nayagaon and Kansal in Mohali, portions of Kaimbwala in Chandigarh and portions of Saketri village and Sector 1, Mansa Devi Complex, in Panchkula. As per conservative estimates, in Kansal area alone, 2,000 families would have been affected.
