Farmers’ union, PAC request to shift mega textile park site away from Sutlej floodplains

Chandigarh, May 25 (KNN) The farmers’ union along with Public Action Committee (PAC) for Sutlej and Mattewara have urged the Forest Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak to move the mega textile park site in Kum Kalan area away from Sutlej floodplains.

Seeking protection of the Mattewara, Jaspal Kadar, Haridarnagar and Salempur forests and flood plain of the Sutlej from the construction of the proposed textile park, the two bodies met the minister on Tuesday.

Threats pertaining to the protected forests and the flood plain due to a mega textile park being planned in the area was apprised to the minister, said Col JS Gill ( retd), a member of the State Task Force on Buddah Dariya Rejuvenation.

Gill further said that it will be a disaster for the biodiversity of the region if the industry is allowed in the area.

“Mattewara is the place of maximum biodiversity in central Punjab. We request you to move the mega textile park away from Sutlej flood plain to another suitable location,” he said.

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.  

(KNN Bureau)