UT starts releasing water into Sukhna from 7 tubewells

Tribune news service

Chandigarh, January 16

The UT Administration has started releasing water from seven tubewells to Sukhna Lake from today.

The project was started with the coconut breaking ceremony in the presence of MP Kirron Kher, justice AK Mittal, Justice Ramendra Jain of Punjab and the Haryana High Court , Mukesh Anand, Chief Engineer of the UT Administration and other senior officers.

The decision to release the water was taken after the Punjab and Haryana High Court asked the UT Administration to look for solutions to increase the level of water in the Sukhna.

The Administration identified the tubewells for the supply of water and additional pipeline that have been laid up to the lake from the Golf Course.

The Chief Engineer said the demand of water supply came down during winters so the left over water would be transferred to the lake till the demand increased . He said around 1.5 MGD water would be released every day. It is expected that it will increase the water level by nearly three feet.

The High Court ordered the states of Haryana, Punjab and the Chandigarh Administration to come up with a solution for the scarcity of water in the lake during summers.

The Haryana Government will also carry out a feasibility study for channelising water to the Sukhna Lake from the Rajipur-Ghaggar choe in Panchkula district.

Sukhna is faces water shortage every year during summers.

One of the major reasons for the loss of water in the lake is evaporation. Poor rainfall has also led to low-water level.The total cost of the project was approximately Rs 45 lakh and work was carried out on war footing in record time.