Editorial:Analysis of Sustainability of Sukhna Lake and Determination of Hydrodynamics of Watershed of Sukhna Lake with Special Reference to Urbanization Impact Assessment

Abstract

The Sukhna Lake is located on the foothills of Siwalik Hill in the UT of Chandigarh. It is bounded by Siwalik foot hills in the north which provides natural rainwater runoff to the Lake and forms major water shed for the Lake and it has a surface area of 52 km². The Lake has an area of 3 km². Two seasonal tributaries namely Kansal and Suketri are mainly contributing water to the Sukhna Lake. The total runoff potential provided to the Lake from all the lithologies of its water shade is estimated to be 2.7 mcm. Four Lake Zone models are developed in response to seasonal expansion and shrinkage of the Lake and the total water quantity required to develop the Lake up to zone IV is estimated to be 4.5mcm which is double the amount provided to the Lake from its natural water shed. In order to meet this deficit of 1.8 mcm, additional rainwater harvesting structure can be provided collecting water from the urbanized sectors of the city, situated in the periphery of the Lake and the total potential provided by these sectors after doing rainwater harvesting practices estimated to be 2.4mcm which seems to fulfill the Lake up to model zone IV.
Thus the present study deals with the analysis of Sukhna lake, its existence and revival along with the proposal of increasing the water shed of the lake by applying rain water harvesting techniques to the adjoining sectors of Chandigarh city and diverting Storm water drainage toward the lake as the present natural water shed seems to be insufficient to fulfill the total requirement of the Lake.