Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Thursday asked the state government to initiate action against two upscale housing projects on the outskirts of the state capital Chandigarh owned by AAP legislator-cum-realtor Kulwant Singh for violating environmental laws.
Seeking an action taken report from the AAP government, Purohit in a letter to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said projects ‘Super Mega Mixed use integrated Industrial Park’ in Sectors 82-83 and 66-A in Mohali and Galaxy Heights by Janta Land Promoters Ltd are coming up in violation of environmental regulations.
The Governor said the observation of environment law violations has been made by Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
He shared the communication of the ministry that says, “The project was under violation from December 16, 2015 (date of grant of Environmental Clearance) to January 10, 2017 (Eco-Sensitive Zone boundary notification). Accordingly, cognisance of the offence is required to be taken under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.”
The governor advised that civic authorities and Punjab Pollution Control Board may be asked to take strict action against the wildlife norms' violators who are involved in illegal construction.
The Union Ministry of Environment, in response to a clarification sought by the state regarding the construction by Janta Land Promoters Ltd, has observed that the proposed project site is located at a distance of 13.06 km from the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary and 8.4 km from the boundary of the Bird Sanctuary in Chandigarh.
With assets of Rs 250 crore, realtor and former mayor Kulwant Singh, who was the AAP candidate from Mohali Urban in 2022, was the richest among all those contesting the Punjab polls from the district.
In 2014, when Kulwant Singh contested the Lok Sabha elections on the Akali Dal ticket from Fatehgarh Sahib, his declared income was Rs 139 crore.