Mann govt scraps textile project near Mattewara forest in Ludhiana

Chandigarh: Following protests over the move for setting up a textile park in Mattewara forest area in Ludhiana, the Punjab government on Monday scrapped the project after a meeting of the eight-member committee with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced that no Industrial unit will be set up at the proposed site near the Mattewara forests to save 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 for avoiding any sort of water pollution in them," announced the Chief Minister after a meeting with the Public Action Committee on Mattewara Forest.

The Chief Minister bemoaned that his predecessor Captain Amarinder Singh had given 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 that the proposed project site is located near the Mattewara forests and on floodplains of river Satluj but the Captain government ignored the castigating effects that this project will have on the environment and ecology of the state. Mann said that 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 Chief Minister said that 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. Rather, Bhagwant Mann said that the Punjab government will preserve these 'green arteries' of the state by all means.

The Chief Minister said that 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.