Chandigarh, May 14
Tata Camelot’s ambitious plan to raise skyscrapers in the vicinity of Sukhna Lake has run into another legal hurdle. Taking up the Save Sukhna case, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed Punjab, Haryana and the Chandigarh Administration to not just stop construction activity in the lake’s catchment area, but also demolish, without notice, any construction being carried out against the high court mandate.

“We direct Punjab and Haryana as well as the Chandigarh Administration to put their enforcement agencies in action and construction activities going on in the catchment area as per the map of the Survey of India should be stopped immediately; and any construction raised in violation of the directions issued by the court be demolished without issuing any notice,” the Bench of Acting Chief Justice MM Kumar and Justice Alok Singh ruled. The development is significant as the Survey of India map says Camelot project is in the catchment area.

The high court has already taken on record the map prepared by the Survey of India defining the catchment area falling in Punjab, Chandigarh and Haryana. As per the map, villages of Kaimbwala and Khuda Alisher in Chandigarh, Nayagaon and part of Kansal in Punjab and parts of Saketri and Mahadevpur in Haryana form part of the catchment area. The Camelot site, located in Kansal village, falls in the Sukhna catchment area.

Otherwise also, amicus curiae or friend of the court Tanu Bedi has all along been insisting that Tata Camelot housing project would affect the fragile catchment area of the lake.

Going into the background of the controversy, the Bench asserted: “In the order dated March 14, 2011, directions were issued to restore the old glory of the lake by observing that no housing colony or building activity took place in the catchment area, either within the forest area or agriculture area. We have been apprised that despite the direction, construction activities are going on….

“Both the states, as well as the UT, shall submit their report with regard to the violation of the directions issued in the order dated March 14 last year and the action taken against the violators”.

The Bench asserted that the minutes of a meeting on the Save Sukhna issue reveal that the Survey of India map has been accepted in principle by the UT Administration.

But Punjab has adopted an “unacceptable attitude and is still making submissions that the map is unacceptable”.

The Bench added the state had endorsed the authenticity of the map during the proceedings of another petition. “Now, it cannot go back on the stand taken,” the Bench ruled.

The Bench further observed that it did not feel the necessity of experts’ sub-committee to prepare a fresh map. “The Administration shall give wide publicity to the catchment areas as depicted in the map prepared by the Survey of India and adopted by the UT Administration as the map of the catchment area so that the general public is made aware that no construction is permitted in the area," the Bench concluded.

We direct the States of Punjab and Haryana as well as the Chandigarh Administration to put their enforcement agencies in action and construction activities going on in the catchment area as per the Survey of India map should be stopped immediately; and any construction raised in violation of the directions issued by the court be demolished without issuing any notice — HC Bench