Finally, De-silting Strategy in Place To Revive Chandigarh's Dying Sukhna Lake

Chandigarh’s Sukhna lake is on death bed and it is the most talked about issue of the place. The dying Sukhna Lake is a cause of worry for many be it authorities, HC, local civic bodies, city residents or tourists who come to visit Sukhna Lake Chandigarh which serve as the local tourist attraction of the city beautiful Chandigarh. In a move to revive the dying Sukhna of Chandigarh, de-silting strategy has been adopted by the authorities for which tenders have been floated already.

Sukhna’s De-silting as a revival strategy

Floating a tender to de-silt the Sukhna Lake as a strategy involved a whopping 24 lac tendering cost that would eradicate the silt from the beds of the Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh using mechanical equipment. The job would start from the regulator end of the lake which would take around a month’s of completion time to do the entire task. The department has already said that drying up of Sukhna is an annual ritual in the summer heat and this de-silting phenomenon has been done plenty of times since the lake was created by the French Architect who conceptualised the city beautiful Chandigarh Le Corbusier in the year 1958. Since 1993, Sukhna Lake has been de-silted like 16 times but to no use because the process is continuous.

Steps involved in Sukhna’s De-silting Strategy

Here is what all would be done to revive our beautiful Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh

Mechanical de-silting of lake starting from the regulator end
Mechanical equipment that would be hired the engineering deptt to carry out the task are huge
Employment of hydraulic excavators, loaders, heavy tippers, and tractors to carry out the work
Project to conclude in a month’s time
Maximum de-silting recorded was 108.16 lakh cu-ft in the year 2010
Silting up of Sukhna’s bed eats up 20% of its volume
Decreases its water holding capacity thereby restricting boating in many areas
Aesthetics and natural beauty of the artificial lake suffers the most
Manual removal of weeds also to be employed to revive the dying lake
Around 8 types of weeds i.e. unwanted plant growth has been recorded

Though a lot has been done but a lot needs to be done to revive our Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh. The departments along with the aid of Central Government is taking up stringent measures to carry out the whopping task. The lake needs us and our efforts. Bringing forth a need to change and transform, “Miles to go before i sleep” is the current jargon adopted by the authorities in reviving the Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh. All hail “Transformation and Revival.”

Source: TOI