Environmentalists have petitioned Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria over the proposed Rs 4-crore sports stadium at Longowal in Sangrur district, alleging that construction activity and tree clearing have begun despite an undertaking recorded before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The seven-acre site adjoining the Longowal police station is described in the representation as a natural habitat and breeding sanctuary for an estimated 100 to 150 peacocks. It also contains nearly 200 mature trees and a natural water body. Peacocks are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
In an urgent representation submitted on Tuesday, environmentalist Col Jasjit Singh Gill (retd) alleged that heavy earthmoving machinery was deployed, reportedly around midnight, to clear green cover and uproot trees for the Public Works Department project. Gill is a former member of the Punjab State Task Force for Budha Darya Rejuvenation.
The petition cited proceedings before a division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 21, 2023, in the case of Jasinder Sekhon and others versus the State of Punjab. According to the representation, the state counsel, acting on instructions from the then Sangrur sub-divisional magistrate, told the court that no work had begun, no trees had been felled and earlier approvals had expired.
The undertaking also stated that the process would restart and that authorities would consider representations from the petitioners, including a demand for an alternative stadium site, before proceeding. The court disposed of the interim application while allowing the petitioners to submit such a representation.
Gill said Jasinder Sekhon later submitted detailed representations to the Sangrur district administration seeking an alternative site that would not affect the ecological area. According to Gill, no speaking order was issued and no personal hearing was granted before the alleged construction activity began.
“Despite the binding judicial undertaking that no steps would be taken before deciding the representation, heavy machinery and JCB earthmovers were moved in under the cover of night to execute construction and uproot decades-old trees,” Gill said in the representation.
The petition has sought the seizure of machinery, sealing of the site, official proceedings over the alleged clearing and suspension of civil work until an ecologically neutral alternative site is finalised. Copies were sent to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the chief secretary, the registrar general of the high court and the Sangrur deputy commissioner.
The dispute places a public sports facility proposal against questions over protection of an identified wildlife habitat, the treatment of mature urban and peri-urban tree cover, and compliance with undertakings made during court proceedings. The representation asks the governor and other authorities to intervene while the allegations and the status of work at the site remain before the concerned government offices.
