Ludhiana | PAC members meet forest minister, urge to shift textile park away from Sutlej floodplains

The members of Public Action Committee (PAC)for Sutlej and Mattewara held meeting in the wake of the state government’s plan to acquire another 250 acres in Kum Kalan tehsil of Ludhiana, which has one of the largest textile clusters in North India, for the mega textile park project

The members of Public Action Committee (PAC) for Sutlej and Mattewara, along with the members of farmers’ unions, on Tuesday met Punjab forest and wildlife preservation minister Lal Chand Kataruchak requesting him to shift the mega textile park site in Kum Kalan area away from Sutlej floodplains.

Jaskirat Walia, a PAC member, said these forests are floodplain forests and a common heritage of Punjab. Their survival depends on the survival of the floodplain itself which will get destroyed if the textile park is allowed to be set up in Kum Kalan tehsil of Ludhiana. (HT FILE)

The meeting was conducted in the wake of the state government’s plan to acquire another 250 acres in Kum Kalan tehsil of Ludhiana, which has one of the largest textile clusters in North India, for the mega textile park project to be set up under the Prime Minister Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM-MITRA) scheme.

The environmental activists urged the minister to save the protected forests— Mattewara forest, Jaspal Kadar forest and Haidarnagar Salempur forest— on the floodplain of Sutlej from imminent disaster as the mega textile park was being planned to be constructed between these forests.

Jaskirat Walia, a PAC member, said these forests are floodplain forests and a common heritage of Punjab. Their survival depends on the survival of the floodplain itself which will get destroyed if the industry is allowed in the area.