Ludhiana: Environmentalists protest over industrial park at Mattewara village

Kuldip Bhatia
Ludhiana, July 2

To draw the state government attention to the protection of Sutlej floodplains and protected forest in Mattewara village, a peaceful protest was held by environmentalists under the banner of Public Action Committee (PAC) at the office of the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA).

Activists of different NGOs such as Naroa Punjab Manch, Ludhiana Cares Ladies Society, Council of Engineers (CoE), RBS Roots, Meri Ma Boli Punjabi, Initiators of Change, Anti-Corruption Federation of India, Vigilant Citizens’ Forum, Better World Campaign and many other bodies took part in the protest.

In a representation to the GLADA chief administrator, the protesters demanded demarcation/zoning of floodplains of Satlej in villages Garhi Fazal, Salempur and Sekhowal adjoining to protected forests of Mattewara village before proceeding further for development of modern industrial park. The PAC maintained that the agitation would be intensified in future, if GLADA failed to follow the directions of the National Green Tribunal in this regard.

Dr Amandeep Singh Bains of RBS Roots, an NGO, and Jaskirat Singh, Naroa Punjab Manch, said Sutlej was the sole drinking water source for the entire South Punjab as well as eight districts of Rajasthan and was already severely polluted due to existing industries in Ludhiana.

“Punjab has the dubious distinction of being the state with lowest forest cover in the country (with Haryana) at only 3.5 percent of the geographical area under forests which is even lesser than Rajasthan. Despite that the government is going to develop an industrial park in 1,000 acres of land located adjoining to Dhussi Bandh of Sutlej and protected forests of Mattewara village,” they remarked.

Kapil Arora (CoE) and activist Kuldeep Singh Khaira said even after the GLADA authorities had received copy of orders of the NGT from the office of the chief secretary but still the body had failed to initiate steps to protect the floodplains. “It is very well known fact that as per guidelines issued by National Disaster Management Authority in 2008, the defence installations, industries, commercial centres and other buildings should be located in such a fashion that they are above the levels corresponding to a 100 year frequency or the maximum observed flood levels,” they said.

The PAC activists asserted that any construction in the floodplains of Sutlej was against the environment as it would not only damage the riverine system but also result into flash floods in the region.