After uprooting 25K families in Pong Dam, 58 more villages are to be impacted by Eco-Sensitive Zones 

The Pong Dam which uprooted around 25000 families in the year 1972 now going to impact 58 more villages as the Union Minister of Forest, Environment and Climate Change has announced the Draft policy for the Pong Dam Eco-Sensitive Zones(ESZ.

The member of the assembly from Dehra (Kangra district) today drew the attention of the house by bringing a discussion on the Draft Policy of ESZ Pong Dam Wildlife Sanctuary.  

Replying to the issue in the house Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the state government would review the draft policy prepared regarding the ESZ of Pong Wildlife Sanctuary review meeting scheduled on December 27, 2023. 

He said that in the meeting, the government would advocate the cause of 58 villages that would be impacted by the draft notification and the state would try to reduce the area of ESZ so that villages expected to have an impact could be kept out of the ESZ. 

The Chief Minister said that according to the rules, ESZ is to be declared around the Wildlife Sanctuary, and until its limits are determined, only a 10 km area within its radius will be considered as ESZ. Holding the previous government responsible for the current draft of Pong Dam, he said that this government has ruined the situation.

While justifying the concern of MLA Hoshiar Singh, the Chief Minister said that first Bhakra Beas Management Board had built Pong Dam here and now it is being declared an ESZ which is a serious issue. 

He said that the government was expected to submit the reply on the issue to the Central Government as well as the Supreme Court regarding the ESZ however previous Government could not stop the creation of an ESZ. He assured that the government would work to reduce the activities of ESZ to protect the people from its impact.

Earlier highlighting a calling attention motion in the house  Independent member Hoshiar Singh said that this issue of Pong Dam Sanctuary is related to five assembly constituencies.

He said that the land was acquired first for the construction of Pong Dam in 1972 however the displacement of people did not stop till the Dam but it was later notified the Wildlife Century which was created and now converted to ESZ forcing the people to displace people twice in a project twice which is against the norms.

 Hoshiar Singh informed the house that as many as 25 thousand families have already been uprooted due to the construction of the Pong Dam. He said that around seven thousand people have not received claims to date moreover 58 nearby villages are going to be affected by the ESZ.

Legislator alleged that oustees who are located in the Marabas region of Rajasthan were chased away from there at gunpoint and many of them after notification of Wildlife Sanctuary and ESZ, were deprived of farming activities and they were being booked for intruding in the sanctuary area.

Hoshiar Singh said that the 114 square kilometer area of Pong Dam Sanctuary was declared ESZ without conducting a public hearing or no one being taken into confidence. 

Members rued the move and said that following the notification no activities could be done in the ESZ and each activity including construction, farming, and development would require the consent of the union government. 

Mr Singh said that people of 58 villages are opposing the move and demanding to roll back the decision to declare Pong Dam as ESZ. He said that Pong Dam should be removed from the list of wetlands and the land should be transferred to the name of Himachal.

It is worthwhile to mention that  Pong Dam Lake Wildlife Sanctuary is spread over an area of 207.96 square kilometers and is located in Nurpur, Dehra Jawali Subdivision of Kangra District in Himachal Pradesh. 

The Pong Dam Lake Wildlife Sanctuary was given the status of Wildlife Sanctuary with effect from June 7 2013  and Pong Dam Lake was declared a wetland of international importance in the year 1994 and the international Ramsar site in the year 2002. The notification of ESZ was issued on April 28, 2022.