Sukhna drying up puts rowers fate in jeopardy

CHANDIGARH: With waters in Sukhna Lake drying up to unprecedented levels this summer not only a landmark of City Beautiful is in danger of getting lost, 50 rowing athletes find their fate in jeopardy with nowhere to practise.
If the disturbing trend continues, Chandigarh will be bereft of a sport in which athletes from the Tricity have done well in international level.Olympian Manjit Singh, Kanav Deasj, Gurpreet Kaur all are products of Lake Club.
It has been three months rowing canoeing, kayaking and yatching athletes took to water and are restricted to ground training. Experts say if the only water body in the city follows the same trend the Lake Club will have to be shut down in a year or two.
Chandigarh Rowing Association secretary Pramod Singla, who is in Kodaikanal for the sub junior nationals said, "Eight participants from Chandigarh have come here and they are participating with minimal practise. The results are bound to dip down. Athletes too have been complaining of lack of practise. If it continues like this the club will have to be closed soon," he said.
Umpteen committees and expert panels by various wings of UT administration have been constituted over the years to look into the shrinking of Sukhna Lake but none has come out with concrete solution. Every plan has come out cropper in the end and there have been shortcomings that lead these panels to their ultimate death.
"The administration has done nothing substantial to check the silting of lake. No action plan is in place to carry out de-silting and this is seriously impeding our career in sports," said an athelete.
Atheletes have been doing warm up exercise and some drills before returning home without even entering the waters of Sukhna.
Sukhna Lake is an artificial lake in the foothills of Shivalik hills. This 3 km rain-fed lake came into existence in 1958 by damming the Sukhna Choe, a seasonal stream coming down from Shivalik hills.