Panchkula lake project being revived

The IIT experts have now submitted their preliminary feasibility report suggesting that “the Panchkula lake project will need a piano key like barrage”. Asked about the location of the barrage,the SE said that it is at a distance of 300 meters from the two streams. He said that the barrage would be upstream from the Ghaggar Bridge and downstream from the chow.

IIT-Roorkee’s Head of the Department Of Water Resources and Development and Management Professor Nayan Sharma said on phone,“This would be the second project in the country to use the piano key technology,which is hydrolically the most efficient and is extensively used in Switzerland and France. It has recently been used in the Rohru dam near Shimla effectively.”

He said that in case of the Rohru dam,the total cost had come down by a third (Rs 250 crore). He said that the strength of this technique is that “it does not require any operational manpower as sediments naturally go down when using this technique,keeping it silt-free.” Seepage losses would also be checked by placing the geo-fabric material at the bottom of the lake,he explained. Sharma disclosed that “the final report is almost ready for submission to the HUDA Authorities”.

Verma said that the HUDA Engineering Department was awaiting the final report. “We will study the report,place it before the higher authorities of HUDA and then seek approval of the Haryana Chief Minister.” It would take about two years to commission the project,he added.

Giving more details,he said that “the proposed lake will be laid at a cost of about Rs 18 crore on an area of 20 acres,for which land has already been acquired by HUDA ahead of the Ghaggar Bridge in sector 24,Panchkula. Like Sukhna Lake,the Panchkula Lake will have a recreational area of 10-12 acres with hotels and restaurants. However,contrary to the general perception,the proposed lake would not use the nearby Ghaggar river water as a source. The water would be sourced from two streams near Morni hills – Nada and Nadana – which have enough water.”

“We would not like the Panchkula lake to dry up the way the the Sukhna Lake has,due to lack of water,” officials said. Archana and Ashish Nagrath,a couple living in Panchkula,observed that “it should be cheering news for tourists and locals who are disappointed to see marshy patches at Chandigarh’s Sukhna Lake in view of poor inflow from the catchment area and accumulation of silt.”

Dr Pankaj Garg,another local resident,said,“Panchkula would no more be a poor cousin of Chandigarh as it would have its own lake.” Subhash Sharma,a retired Insurance company executive commented,“The proposed lake would add to the beauty of Panchkula and woo domestic as well as foreign tourists.”