Expressing serious concern over the drying up of Chandigarh’s iconic Sukhna Lake, the Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on the builder-mafia and bureaucrats over their alleged collusion resulting in ecological damage to the water body.

“Aur kitna sukhaoge Sukhna Lake ko… There are illegal constructions in collusion and connivance with bureaucrats, backed by political entities in Punjab resulting in complete destruction of the lake. All builder mafias are operating there,” a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said.

The bench – which also included Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M Pancholi – made the comments after a lawyer mentioned a plea related to the lake during hearing of a plea filed in a pending 1995 PIL titled ‘In Re: TN Godavarman Thirumulpad’.

The remarks came from the bench during the hearing of its suo moto case regarding the Aravalli definition issue, in which it had stayed its earlier decision to accept the Centre’s definition of the Aravalli range. The CJI expressed displeasure over deteriorating condition of the lake.

Earlier, the bench wondered why matters concerning forests and lakes were repeatedly being brought directly before it, bypassing high courts, and that too through interim applications in a decades-old PIL. “Why are all forest matters coming to this court?” it asked.

The bench said it appeared a “friendly match” was being played at the behest of certain private developers and others. It asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Centre and amicus curiae K Parameshwar to inform it of local issues that could be effectively dealt with by respective high courts.

The matter relates to protecting the catchment area of Sukhna Lake – a man-made, rain-fed lake in Chandigarh, India, created in 1958 by damming the Sukhna Choe stream at the foothills of the Shivalik Range. A major tourist attraction, it is home to various birds, including migratory species in winter.

In 2020, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had ordered demolition of illegal structures around the lake to prevent encroachment.