LAHORE: The Punjab government will soon launch development work on an Aqua Business Park in Chunian (Kasur), as necessary instructions have been issued to the industries department in this regard.

Under the development plan, 103 industrial plots will be carved out in the park.

The other works include the development of the commercial area, labour colony, grid station, cold storage, feed mill, research centre, packages centres and fish market.

The development work will be completed by Rs2 billion under the management of Punjab Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (PIEDMC) by December this year.

“Chief Minister Usman Buzdar will inaugurate the development works at the park,” Provincial Minister for Industry and Commerce Mian Aslam Iqbal said at the PIEDMC office on Monday.

“The previous government abandoned the plan to set up an industrial estate in Chunian due to high groundwater level, but despite knowing this, it spent millions of rupees on the pretext of development works,” he alleged.

The present government, according to the minister, took the decision to convert Chunian State into an aqua business park keeping in view the ground realities. “The park would have a large-scale export of prawns, shrimp and tilapia fish,” he said, directing the PIEDMC management to expedite the work for timely completion of the project.

The government had, in May, last year decided to convert Chunian (Kasur) Industrial Estate Project into Pakistan’s first seafood species breeding, growing and export hub — Chunian Aqua Business Park — after it found that the land acquired for the industrial estate was not feasible for an industrial estate due to rising saline groundwater table.

It also emerged that the then Punjab government had earlier spent over Rs350 million on the land acquisition, construction of a boundary wall and preparing a design for developing the industrial estate, also connected to Multan Road, near Bhai Pheru, about 40km away from Lahore. However, it could not complete the project during its previous government.

A couple of years before, the PIEDMC’s new BoD started working on the project and found the soil test report that revealed that the groundwater table is lying at just up to 10 feet or slightly above, making the land unsuitable for an industrial estate.

After knowing this, the company started considering other options to utilise the area for other industrial purposes in conformity with the soil tests.

Later, some studies were conducted that declared that the area was suitable for breeding, growing and exporting seafood species, particularly crab, prawn and shrimp.

Since the land appeared feasible for fish farming also, it was also decided to add this component to the project for local consumption.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2022