While stating that the Tata Camelot Housing project of the Tatas is well within the catchment area of Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday set aside the permission granted by the gram panchayat of the area and endorsed by the Punjab government.
While stating that the Tata Camelot Housing project of the Tatas is well within the catchment area of Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday set aside the permission granted by the gram panchayat of the area and endorsed by the Punjab government.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw also set aside the orders of environmental clearances given by the authorities concerned for the Rs 1800 crore project.
"The court has examined the area in question, as per the survey of India maps, which indeed falls in the catchment area of Sukhna lake and hence the housing project cannot be allowed," the court observed.
The order came on a plea filed by advocate Aalok Jagga against the grant of approval by various authorities to the Tata housing project near Sukhna Lake.
The court further directed the Punjab government to reconsider it’s decision of giving permission to the Tatas. "If at all the Tata undertakes a fresh project, it should be a A-category project," the bench said in its over 150 page judgment.
The apex court had earlier stayed the housing project by reversing the go-ahead granted to it by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Later, it transferred the plea to the Delhi High Court asking it to decide the matter.
The project, having 92,100 flats in 19 towers, is slated to be raised on 53.39 acres of land near the Chandigarh Capitol Complex. The project allegedly falls in the catchment area of Sukhna Lake in the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
Besides seeking summoning of records related to the project, the plea had also sought issuance of a direction to restrain the respondents (Centre and others) from commencing the work "including construction, sale and allotment" of flats.
The PIL had alleged that the project was in close proximity of a wildlife sanctuary, declared a reserved forest area.
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