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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.
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.
“Mattewara accounts for the maximum biodiversity in Central Punjab. The project will be a disaster for the biodiversity of the region. We, therefore, request you to use your good offices to impress upon the Government of Punjab to shift the park away from Sutlej floodplain and Mattewara forest,” PAC members mentioned in the memorandum submitted to the minister.
