PAC alleges encroachments on govt land near Mattewara

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 30

The Public Action Committee (PAC), formed to safeguard the Sutlej, Mattewara forest, and Buddha Dariya from pollution, has alleged that a significant portion of government land near Mattewara has been illegally occupied.

Occupied for agricultural purposes

After reaching the site today, we saw that the government land, which included areas of a potato seed research farm and other research centres, had been illegally occupied for agricultural purposes. The PAC has already lodged a complaint regarding the matter with the Chief Minister.

Jaskirat Singh, a pac member

On Friday, PAC members, along with Dilbagh Singh, state president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni), and activist Lakha Sidhana, visited the site and demanded appropriate action in the matter.

They alleged that the “encroachments” have come up on the government land that was previously designated for the proposed Mattewara Textile Park. Following protests, the state government had cancelled the proposed textile park project last year. The activists demand that the government must get the encroachments removed from the land at the earliest.

Jaskirat Singh, a PAC member, alleged that some unidentified people had encroached upon the government land which was designated for the cancelled textile park project. “After reaching the site today, we saw that the government land, which included areas of a potato seed research farm and other research centres, had been illegally occupied for agricultural purposes. The PAC has already lodged a complaint regarding the matter with the Chief Minister,” he said.

Kuldeep Singh Khaira, another member of the committee, said: “In a meeting that took place last year, the Chief Minister agreed to six demands but only one of them has been met to date. No steps have been taken to create a biodiversity park on the government land near Mattewara. Now, the government land has been encroached upon by some people. Consequently, we have decided to stage a protest outside the GLADA headquarters on July 10.”

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