The hue and cry increases among the citizens of Punjab after hearing the news about destruction of Mattewara Jungle. The cabinet has sent the approval for giving 1000 acres of land of Mattewara jungle to build Industrial Park to boost the economy and create employment in the state. They are also stated as the lungs of Ludhian a (district in Punjab).
The chief minister of Punjab tweeted:
Capt.Amarinder Singh
@capt_amarinder
Jul 8
“Punjab Cabinet has approved setting up of Modern Industrial Park in Mattewara (Ludhiana) & Integrated Manufacturing Cluster near Rajpura (Patiala) at a total cost of Rs 3200 Cr to further boost industrial development & generate employment”
Also the tweet recently generated by the official handle of government of Punjab was-
Government of Punjab
@PunjabGovtIndia
Jul 13
#PunjabGovernment categorically said that no industrial park would be set up on #Mattewara forest land and only government and Panchayat lands will be used for the much needed industrial development in the state.
Also, the Divisional Forest Officer, Punjab said that no such proposal has been approved to set up industrial parks yet.
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Since there is no proper demarcation done to inform people that which part of land is to be used to set up industrial park but the news has created a sense of hypertension among the people of the state. There is a religious sentiment connected to this jungle too. The tenth guru of Sikhs Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji had fought many battles with against Mughals and famous battle of ‘Chamkaur Ki Garhi’ is related to these jungles. Also Maharaja Ranjit Singh conquered Ludhiana province in 1805 through this jungle. The place is habitat for various species of flora and fauna including peacocks, antelopes, deer etc. A number of endangered fauna species are found here. If ever the jungle gets devastated, the river Sutlej (which is already dried up) will suffer massively like ‘Budha Darya’ (a seasonal tributary of Sutlej) which has been highly polluted due to gigantic industrial waste plunged into it.
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Ranjodh singh (managing director GST group) wrote a letter appealing-
“The state government has taken a step to set up an industrial park near the area, which will ruin the ecological balance of this habitat. Further, pollution will affect the Sutlej water and air more. Many trees will be uprooted, land-grabbers will destroy the nature and rapid urbanization will ruin the precious natural resources. The Mattewara forest is home to many birds and animals such as peacock, antelopes, deer and sambar and other old varieties of flora and fauna. Being close to the river, it’s a natural habitat for the animals.”
Various environmentalists have also stood up against it urging the government to not to destroy the jungle.