Facing protests over the proposal to set up a mega textile park near the Mattewara forest and on the river Sutlej floodplains in Punjab’s industrial hub Ludhiana, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on today announced that no Industrial unit will be set up at the proposed site “for saving the precious water resources and woods of the state”.
“I will categorically like to announce that not only in Mattewara but the state government will not allow any industry to come up on the river banks of Punjab to avoid any sort of water pollution in them” announced the CM after a meeting with the Public Action Committee on Mattewara Forest.
Despite having recently backed the project for “attracting investments and generating employment”, Mann blamed his predecessor Captain Amarinder Singh for giving nod to the project envisaged by the Union government for setting up a textile park over 1000 acres on this land, “without even thinking about its pros and cons”.
He said the proposed project site is located near the Mattewara forests and on floodplains of river Satluj but the Captain government totally ignored the castigating effects which this project will have on the environment and ecology of the state.
Mann said apart from cutting trees this project would have also led to massive pollution in the river water thereby jeopardising human life along with flora and fauna in the region.
The CM said when voted to power his government minutely studied the project and found that this will disturb the ecological balance of the area. He said that keeping in view the repercussions of this project on the environment and human life, the state government has decided that no industrial unit will be set up on this land.
Mann said the Punjab government will preserve these ‘green arteries’ of the state by all means. He said the state government is ready to allot any new chunk of land for this proposed Textile park with the condition that it doesn’t pollute the waters of the state.
Mann reiterated the firm commitment of the state government to check the environmental pollution for making Punjab clean, green and pollution-free.
The proposal to set up the Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel Park, under the PM-MITRA scheme, near the Mattewara forest and on the river Sutlej floodplains, was red-flagged by locals, environmentalists, and Opposition parties on the ground that it will disturb the biodiversity of the protected forest and even lead to chemical discharge from factories into the river.