4 min readDehradunNov 23, 2022 03:01 AM IST
First published on: Nov 22, 2022 at 10:40 PM IST
Hearing a suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on preservation of Sukhatal Lake in Nainital, the Uttarakhand High Court on Tuesday directed the State to stop all construction activities on the lakebed and posted the matter for further hearing on December 20.
The division bench of Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice J R C Khulbe asked the state authorities to remove all encroachments in the area, and noted that the administration would have removed the encroachments by now had they been from the poorer sections of the society.
In December last year, 104 signatories — local activists and citizens — had sent a letter to the Uttarakhand HC Chief Justice, who took suo motu cognizance of the matter and converted the letter into a PIL. The court appointed an amicus curiae to look into the matter.
“We find a very serious question to be answered in this case…. Since the matter is very urgent, it shall be listed on each date of listing of PILs, as a fresh admission matter,” the court had said in its order on March 2.
The letter was signed after the Nainital administration planned to redevelop Sukhatal, a catchment area less than 1 km from the renowned Naini Lake in the hill town. The local administration planned to turn it into an artificial waterbody by making the lakebed impermeable.
ExplainedWhy Sukhatal is important
It is believed that Sukhatal is a feeder lake for Naini Lake, as it acts as upstream storage for Naini Lake during monsoon by holding the runoff from catchment of water that would have otherwise flown out, thereby increasing erosion and silt deposition in Naini Lake. Studies show encroachment and dumping of construction and other waste have led to unprecedented deterioration of Sukhatal lakebed and its ability to recharge Naini Lake. Since 2000, Naini Lake has reached zero level —minimum water level to be maintained — on at least 10 occasions.
In the letter, the group expressed concern about the “unscientific and unwanted” development of Sukhatal Lake. They said the proposed development of Sukhatal, which includes its preservation and concretisation, has the potential to collapse the ecology of Naini Lake and to endanger livelihood of Nainital residents.
In an information note issued, Advocate Kartikey Hari Gupta, amicus curiae to the court, said they have pointed out to the HC that as per hydrological studies, Sukhatal is a major source of lake water recharge of Naini Lake and the state is wrong in making any construction over the bed.
“The use of impermeable material on Sukhatal lakebed is prohibited by all scientific bodies. However, ignoring all scientific reports, a project report was prepared by IIT Roorkee for the so-called beautification of Sukhatal area,” he stated. “The IIT report is faulty and cannot be relied upon for various reasons. First, IIT Roorkee has no expertise in doing any environmental impact assessment. Second, even that report suggested three options for beautification and containment of encroachment on Sukhatal.”
In his note, Gupta stated: “The first and second options simply suggest a boundary wall of Sukhatal to prohibit encroachment. However, the affidavit filed by the district-level development authority mentions that initially the second option was adopted by experts but on inspection of the then Commissioner of Kumaon Division, it was changed into the third option, which suggests making the part of the lakebed with an impermeable material and converts Sukhatal into a perennial lake…
“IIT Roorkee itself has mentioned that it made the feasibility reports after deliberations with the sponsoring agency. We have argued that IIT Roorkee has never applied an independent mind, as it has made the report for the agency which funded the said project.”
He said the High Court has issued notices to the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority and the State Wetlands Management Authority after accepting their argument that Sukhatal is a wetland and prior sanctions from these authorities are mandatory.
Gupta also submitted before the court that the government’s plan is to develop Sukhatal as a tourist spot, but Nainital does not need any more tourism, as the district is already burdened.
Studies conducted by the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) Roorkee, IIT Roorkee, and the Centre for Ecology Development and Research (CEDAR) Dehradun, indicate that Sukhatal contributes significantly to the inflow of water to Nainital Lake through subsurface flow.
In December last year, Uttarakhand HC Chief Justice took suo motu cognizance of the encroachments at Sukhatal Lake after a letter by local activists and citizens. (Express Photo) 
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