According to sources, while tenders have been floated for the wet-dredging plan, work will start soon after the finalisation of tenders is done. Officials feel it would take about two years to fully implement the project.

Interestingly, the Administration has floated the tenders with the condition that only government and semi-government undertakings or corporations be allowed to bid for the project; private parties are excluded. The Dredging Corporation of India and several other such bodies, have already inspected the lake.

This, the sources, say has been done to avoid any posible bungling in the removal of silt under the plan. The desiltation done a few years ago had resulted in a "silt scam", where at least four engineers, including two XENs, were held guilty of bungling to the tune of lakhs of rupees while undertaking removal of silt from the lake.

Officials say that Sukhna Lake has been silting up ever since it was formed in 1958. In 1958 the lake had a total storage capacity of 10.74 million cubic metres; it has been losing 4 per cent of its water storage capacity every year due to silt accumulation. Sixty-seven per cent of the lakebed is silt-covered now.

Manual shramdaan was started several years ago as a symbolic exercise and focused attention on Sukhna Lake which was subsequently declared a national wetland.

A Rs- 38 crore composite plan was submitted to the Planning Commission last year, which included complete desiltation of the lake and steps to avoid its further siltation. However, this plan has not yet been cleared, even though the Planning Commission released Rs 2 crore last year for lake desiltation and a similar amount is likely to be released this year. The funds recieved from the Centre by the UT's Department of Environment will be transferred to the Engineering Department to undertake the wet dredging plan.

While manual or mechanical shramdaan is carried out in the dry areas of the lake, sources say that wet dredging will clear the silt and deepen the lake. Officials say that the average present depth of the lake has gone down to 12 feet. Through the wet dredging project, it is hoped to deepen the lake to an average of 18 feet. This would, however, take two more years, say officials. Wet dredging involves churning the water so that silt is heavily suspended in it and then pumping out the turbid water into a desilting tank. When the silt settles to the bottom the clean water is pumped back into the lake via a weir.

Meanwhile, the Environment Department is going ahead with soil conservation measures on the hillsides above the lake; these include construction of check dams to retain soil and afforestation. Officials claimed that these steps have already reduced the flow of silt into the lake. The Environment Department is also demarcating forest area around the lake, so that the area can be protected.