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Mattewara industrial park : Sekhowal villagers, panchayat oppose land acquisition
The sarpanch was told that ‘parks’ will be established over 200-acre land, claims had no idea that 407 acres of land will be used to setup industrial parks; villagers say will agitate unless decision is rollbacked
Slamming the state government’s decision to establish an industrial park over 1,000 acres in Mattewara, the villagers and panchayat of Sekhowal village said they will hold an agitation if 407 acres of panchayat land in the village is acquired for the project.
Accusing the administration and government of cheating them, the villagers said around 60 families were dependent on the chunk of cultivable land that is proposed to be used for the project.
Levelling serious accusations at administrative officials, sarpanch Amrik Kaur said, “The authorities got my approval on documents around two months ago saying that ‘parks’ will be established on around 200-acre land. The authorities never told us that the whole 407 acres of land would be acquired and industrial parks will be established on the same. I would have never given the nod if I knew that panchayat land would be taken over by the government for building an industrial park. Apart from destroying the lives of villagers, who earn their bread and butter by working in these fields, the state government will also damage the Mattewara forest, which is situated near the village. We will not let the government acquire the panchayat land and will raise an agitation, if needed.”
‘SARPANCH WAS MISLEAD’
Former sarpanch Dhir Singh said,”The current sarpanch is illiterate and could not understand the conspiracy. The panchayat of the village got possession of the land around five years ago after we won the case in the Supreme Court. The land was earlier being used as a potato seed farm. We will never hand over the land to the government and the government should also not play with the lives of villagers.”
LIP, AAP EXTEND SUPPORT
The Lok Insaf Party (LIP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have also extended their support to villagers. They said that they will also join the protest.
While LIP president and MLA Simarjet Singh Bains visited the village on Thursday, AAP MLA and deputy leader of opposition in legislative assembly Sarvjit Kaur Manuke met the villagers on Friday. Residents of the city have also started a campaign on social media networks to stop the government from ‘destroying’ the Mattewara forest.
SDM (east) Baljinder Singh Dhillon said,”I have joined the office recently and I am not aware of the episode, which took place before my joining. I will look into the grievances of the villagers.”
The state government has proposed to establish the industrial park on government and panchayat land of Haidar Nagar, Sekhowal, Salempur, Sailkiana and Machian Kalan villages.
