Sukhna lake survives

the Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh, which was dying due to heavy siltation, has been revived by the efforts of the forest department of Chandigarh. According to H S Sohol chief wildlife warden Chandigarh, the rate of siltation has come down drastically because of intensive afforestation projects and construction of check dams in the Sukhna watershed.

Sohol added that the situation can improve drastically if the watershed region, falling under the Haryana forest department, is afforested.

The Lake was constructed in 1958 with a storage capacity of 8,710-acre feet. Within a period of 17 years at least 67 per cent of the storage capacity was lost.

The total catchment area of the lake is 4,207 hectares, out of which 3,312 hectares constitute the Shivalik hills and the remaining area of 895 hectares falls in three villages of Kaimbwala (Chandigarh), Kansal (Punjab) and Suketri (Haryana).