A view of Nagar Van in Chandigarh. (Express Photo)
The Chandigarh administration has stopped the process of constructing a bird aviary, panning 100 acres, supposed to come out at Nagar Van which was supposed to be located near Sukhna Widlife Sanctuary, owing to the Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment, banning all constructions in the Sukhna Catchment Area.
The forest and wildlife department had also decided to construct a veterinary hospital in the Nagar Van, which has also been stopped.
The administration had decided to develop a bird aviary on the line of Jurong Bird Park in Singapore. “As the judgement came, we stopped all work related to the bird aviary inside Nagar Van with immediate effect. We will take further legal opinion. As the Punjab and Haryana High Court banned all kinds of construction, we stopped the work,” said Debendra Dalai, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest.
UT Administrator, VP Singh, Badnore had given his nod for the construction of Nagar Van and bird aviary for exotic birds in January, 2019. The High Court delivered its judgement on March 2.
A Nagar Van Development Committee was formed comprising eminent birders like Metinder Singh Sekhon, Narbir Kahlon and Kulbhushan Kanwar. “Indeed, there is a decision banning all kinds of residential and commercial construction in the Sukhna Catchment Area, but the bird aviary is something else. It does not fall in the category of commercial and residential. In fact, when the bird aviary was proposed, the Nagar Van Development Committee recommended of the construction of a bird aviary outside of the Nagar van. It was proposed at a place which was occupied by the Chandigarh Horse Riding Club but later vacated on the interference of the high court in January, 2019. Later, our suggestion was overturned and it was planned to construct the bird aviary inside the Nagar Van,” said Kulbhushan Kanwar.
“The plan for the construction of bird aviary must be executed. It is for the residents of Chandigarh and with the purpose of spreading awareness and education about the birds. Such things always generate interest about nature among children,” said another member of the committee.
A senior forest officer said, “We dropped the idea of bird aviary outside the Nagar Van because the place was adjacent to the main road. As city residents, birders want a bird aviary to be built. We will discuss the matter with our legal department.”
The construction work of the aviary costs around Rs 3.65 crore. Tenders were floated inviting bidding from companies.