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Second wakeup call for Punjab’s Badal government to take Haryana to court for contempt of Supreme Court and violations of Wildlife Protection and Forests Conservation Acts when it dug the Hansi-Butana canal
Washington D.C. - Over two weeks have passed since a wakeup call, was published in this column, dated August 6, 2008, urging the Badal & Son government, in the Sikh Homeland of Punjab, to sieze the moment and take the state of Haryana to court, for not only violations of the Wildlife Protection Act but also contempt of the Supreme Court. The thugish anti-Sikh Haryana Chief minister has openly flouted the Law by digging the illegal Hansi-Butana Link canal through the Saraswati Plantation Wild Life Sanctuary. This is a criminal act under the Law which could draw three to seven years jail. As the Badal family government of Indian occupied Punjab has continued in its slumber the August 6, 2008, Khalistan Calling is repeated here as a REMINDER:-
“A ‘committee’ appointed by the Indian Supreme Court to investigate a petition filed by a Delhi-based NGO, Wildlife Trust of India, seeking to know about the legality of the Hansi-Butana Link canal digging through the Saraswati Plantation Wild Life Sanctuary in Haryana, has found that, the construction of the said canal, inside the sanctuary, is in violation of the Wildlife ProtectionAct and Supreme Court orders and, is being dug without any approvals under the Forests Conservation Act. Unfortunately the Punjabi media has missed this crucial development.
The Badal & Son government of Punjab too, as is its wont, is in deep slumber, and has not noticed this great opportunity, knocking on ‘Punjab’s door,’to legally put an end to non-riparian Haryana’s provocation of the illegal Hansi-Butana Link canal project which threatens to siphon, nay steal, additional FREE water, from water-short Punjab, by tapping the Bhakra Mainline canal at a spot inside Haryana territory. For a backgrounder on the illegal Rs. 250-crore, 109-km long, Hansi-Butana link canal conspiracy, please read the Khalistan Calling, dated May 10, 2006, headlined, “Haryana’s water war on the Punjab,” by clicking at the following link.
To understand the petition filed by Delhi-based NGO, Wildlife Trust of India a description of the 44.53 sq. km Saraswati Plantation Wild Life Sanctuary is necessary. The Saraswati Plantation Wild Life Sanctuary, notified on July 29, 1988, falls partially in the districts of Kurukshetra and Kaithal of Haryana, about 10 km from Pehowa town. This forest is a good area for birding and for observing the local wildlife. Habitat consists of dense forest, water ponds, woodland, grassland surrounded by cultivated land and a nearby water-stream. Also called Seonsar Forest, the Saraswati Plantation is the third biggest forest in Haryana, after Kalesar and Morni Hills.
The Chandigarh Tribune, way back on November 27, 1999, in an article, in its Saturday-Plus section, headlined, “A refuge for wildlife,” written by Suresh C. Sharma and Vincent Van Ross, described the Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary in the following words:- “SPREAD across 11,003 acres of land in Kaithal and Kurukshetra districts of Haryana is one of its largest, yet little-known, sanctuary — the Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary. The mythical river Saraswati, which is still believed to flow beneath the surface of the sanctuary, lends this sanctuary its name. Originally known as Saraswati plantations, this area was declared a reserve forest on April 27, 1973. And it became a wildlife sanctuary on July 29,1988. The Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary flaunts a rich vegetation. It comprises a fair mix of native as well as imported trees and shrubs. As part of the development work in the sanctuary, about 2,700 running meters of wire mesh has been used to build fences along the boundary of the sanctuary. Interestingly, a few villages are still located inside the sanctuary. Three concrete watch towers have been constructed at vantage points in the sanctuary. Rising to a height of about 30 feet, these watch towers provide a panoramic view of the surrounding forest. The sanctuary also maintains a two-room rest house managed by the Forest Department. There is a small man-made lake in the sanctuary. This attracts migratory waterfowl during winter, in addition to the resident birds it supports. Animals too visit this lake to quench their thirst. Besides this, there are several natural depressions in the sanctuary. These come alive with the arrival of monsoons by trapping rain water. Two tubewells supplement the water supply of the sanctuary. The main source of water in this sanctuary, however, is Ban Ganga. Ban Ganga is a large drain that winds through the sanctuary. Babools are planted on either side of this drain. One of the largest reservoirs of Haryana, Bibipur or Murtzabad reservoir releases its water into this drain. After carrying this water through the sanctuary, Ban Ganga discharges its water into the Ghaggar river.”
To cover up its criminal action of violation of the Wildlife Protection Act, and ‘contempt’ of the Supreme Court, whose approval is mandatory, the Haryana state government is now pushing for denotification of the Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary while the Punjab’s Badal-led government, and the Punjabi media, are in deep ‘slumber’. Badal & Co., have neither noticed the ‘opportunity’, nor reacted, as they should have, to put an end to the Hansi-Butana canal project by exposing – with a petition to the Supreme Court -the criminality and demanding that the guilty be punished under the Wildlife Protection Act for intrusion in the Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary. The Wildlife Protection Act stipulates that ONLY the National Board for Wildlife can alter a sanctuary’s boundary. Punishment for non-compliance is three to seven years in jail.
In the meantime, the issue had taken a new turn. The Haryana government, which has the lowest forest cover of any Indian state, is trying to cover up its’ crime by pushing for the denotification of Saraswati Sanctuary with the Supreme Court and National Wildlife Board. Last year the NDTV (New Delhi Television), in an expose‘, by Jay Mazoomdaar, headlined, “Canal threatens Haryana sanctuary,” said that, “Haryana share of forest cover is the lowest in the country but that still has not stopped the government from squandering what little it actually has. Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary, named after the mythical river that is still believed to flow beneath its surface, is home to about 200 hog deer. The lively little green patch should have been treasured in a state with virtually no forest cover. But work is in progress for the Hansi-Butana link canal project, and the canal is coming up on acres of sanctuary land. Hundreds of trees have been felled without clearance from the Centre and the Supreme Court. The contractors are also using forest roads to transport surplus earth and machinery. When the demand for opening up forest roads came up in May this year, the officer in-charge of the sanctuary raised objections, citing a number of explicit legal restrictions. The Indian Forest Act forbids trespassing into a sanctuary as also felling trees. The Wildlife Protection Act bars entry to a sanctuary except for research photography or tourism purposes. And the Forest Conservation Act says the Center’s approval is a must for non-forest use of forest land. Three months on, the result is visible with firelines and culverts crumbling under heavy vehicles, constant traffic and loose soil damaging the habitat stoking the risk of forest fire, free movement of construction workers has put the wildlife at risk. Some of these men have been already booked for poaching. Yet forest officials say there’s no violation. ‘A few acres are being used. Transportation is no big deal. There is no major violation here. We are in the process of denotifying the sanctuary. It was pending with the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court has cleared the case. Only formalities remain,’ said PC Rawat, PCCF, Haryana.” It is obvious the anti-Punjab Indian Supreme Court, taking advantage of the silence of the Badal government in the matter, is giving ‘a wink and a nod’ to the Haryana government. Please also read Khalistan Calling, dated January 2, 2008, headlined, “Indian Supreme Court plans to ambush Punjab after the New Year by deciding water disputes in Haryana’s favor,” by clicking at the following link.
Last Friday ( August 1, 2008), the Times of India newspaper carried a New Delhi-datelined story, hidden in the ‘Earth’ section, headlined, “Officer faces action for blowing whistle on sanctuary,” which said that, “Sanjeev Chaturvedi, a 33-year-old Indian Forest Service officer, is facing disciplinary action. His fault? He blew the whistle on a canal being dug without permission through Haryana’s Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary, home to the hog-deer, black buck and wildboar. When the officer found that trees were being felled and earth being dug, he did what he was supposed to do — he filed a report to the chief wildlife warden. In response, he was warned by the state principal secretary that he would face disciplinary action and immediately transferred out. While being acted against, Chaturvedi was told he was seeking to hold back a project of the state and hence his transfer. It’s not known whether Chaturvedi was moved by these concerns. What he was concerned about was the unfairness of what had been done to him for doing his duty. Early this year, he approached the Union environment ministry and presented his case. The Haryana government did not even defend its case. As the facts of the case were stark, the ministry revoked Charturvedi’s suspension. A little later, Delhi-based NGO Wildlife Trust of India filed a petition before the Supreme Court on the canal in Saraswati Sanctuary, seeking to know whether it was being dug in accordance with the law. And if not, demanding action against the officers who had permitted it. The court appointed a committee to go into the case. The committee found that the construction of the canal had been done in violation of the Wildlife Protection Act and Supreme Court orders and without any approvals under the Forests Conservation Act.” End of quote from Times of India.
Readers may recall that the Punjab government had moved the Supreme Court, in August of 2007, to strike down Sections 78 and 79 of the Act, dealing exclusively with the sharing of Ravi, Beas and Sutlej waters with non-riparian Haryana and Rajasthan, claiming that these provisions are not only unconstitutional but contrary to the previous accords on water sharing, right from the Independence of India Act, 1947 by way of which India’s right on these three rivers have been recognized. The suit was filed under Article 131, giving the apex court the power to adjudicate upon any inter-state dispute. The (Punjab) state government has named the centre, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh as respondents. The state government, according to the Tribune, has sought to restore its right on the waters of these rivers as a riparian state to the level of pre-Reorganisation Act stage and restrain officials of the center and (link) other respondent states from acting in accordance with the mandate of the two Sections and any other follow-up agreements. The suit has been moved by Punjab’s special standing counsel Rupinder Singh Suri, handling all water dispute cases for the state.
For more details please read Khalistan Calling dated August 22, 2007, headlined, “Badal Government files suit in Indian Supreme Court,” by clicking at the following link
The illegal act of the Haryana government of digging the illegal Hansi-Butana link canal, through the protected Saraswati Plantation Wild Life Sanctuary, is indeed an illegal act which can put ‘PAID’ (and possibly draw a jail sentence) on this attempt by Haryana Chief Minister’s to steal Punjab’s water via the illegal Hansi-Butana link canal if the Indian Supreme Court shows some honesty. Punjabi leaders, in the past, to their eternal shame, have usually not missed an opportunity to miss an ‘opportunity’. The Badal Government is urged to grab this ‘opportunity’ to use the law to tame the ‘gangsters’ in non-riparian Haryana who are after Punjab’s water via the illegal Hansi-Butana link canal.”
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