Sukhna ESZ row: BJP leader blames state govt for not passing building plans for Nayagaon, Karoran, Nada

Nayagaon Ghar Bachao Manch chairman and Punjab BJP leader Vineet Joshi on Tuesday accused the Punjab govt of not passing the building plans for Nayagaon, Karoran and Nada after implementing the “wrongly interpreted” default 10-km Sukhna Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) decision.

Holding a press conference in Nayagaon, Joshi accused the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab of being anti-poor and anti-lower middle class, benefiting the rich and upper middle class.

“The evidence of this is the government’s implementation of the default 10-km Sukhna ESZ decision in one single stretch of 10 km in a contradictory manner. For Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary’s ESZ, officers of the department of forests and wildlife preservation and the local government of Punjab, wrongly interpreting the Wildlife Conservation Rules 1972, central government guidelines, and decisions or orders of various courts have declared 10 km as default ESZ till formally notified by the Punjab government. After implementing the wrongly interpreted default 10 km ESZ decision, the Punjab government has stopped passing building plans for Nayagaon, Karoran and Nada. This has badly hit poor and lower middle income group people owning two or three or four marlas of land in Nayagaon municipal area. If the 10 km ESZ is the reason for not approving building plans in Nayagaon, why are similar plans being approved in New Chandigarh,” Joshi said.