GUJRAT: The fate of phase 2 of the Gujrat Industrial Estate area hangs in balance after the local administration has come under immense pressure to once again change the site of the project at a time when land acquisition is in final stages.

Official sources in the local administration told Dawn the acquisition of the land has been under process in the area located along Gujrat-Sargodha road near Saroki bridge over Upper Jhelum Canal for the last almost one year as some 200 acres piece of land has already been identified.

Now some influential political figures belonging to both the PML-N and PPP, the ruling coalition partners in Punjab and federal governments, have opposed the execution of the project at the already selected site and they have proposed a new site near Mehsam area along Gujrat-Bhimbher road.

A huge chunk of uncultivated land is available in Bamta and other villages of the area which is only a few kilometers away from the route of an under-construction Sambrial-Kharian motorway as an extension of Lahore-Sialkot Motorway, says an official of the land revenue department.

Project lingers on for over three decades

He said that Gujrat deputy Commissioner Rizwan Qadeer along with the concerned officials inspected the new proposed site last week and now a detailed report consisting pros and cons of the site is being prepared for further consumption of the senior government authorities.

A former president of Gujrat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GtCCI) Mian Waheed apprehends that any move to change the site plan may further delay the execution of this long-awaited project as several road infrastructure projects, including construction of bridges and flyovers, are already being executed around the selected site.

The project area was approved by the last Punjab government and a sum of Rs 1.3 billion was allocated on the recommendation of PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi. For land acquisition, an amount of Rs 400 million was released in the current fiscal year.

Moreover, the new industrial area police station has already been established besides the construction of a 6 km long dual carriageway. The land of three villages -- Saroki, Chak Qazian and Sheikh Qureshian -- has been selected. These villages were part of the constituency of Adviser to prime minister and PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira who also held a protest demonstration against the selection of the site to express solidarity with the farmers a few months ago.

Official sources say Mr Kaira has been making efforts to get the site shifted from his constituency areas to some other place.

Adding, they say an influential group having backing of the former rulers in Punjab, has purchased a chunk of land to develop several commercial and residential projects near the Saroki site of the industrial area that is why the pressure is being mounted for the change of the site on a political basis.

Hundreds of the industrial units (electric fans, pottery, furniture and others) have been functioning in the residential areas of Gujrat city as the local business fraternity has been striving to get a second industrial estate area for the last more than three decades. The phase 1 was established more than 50 years ago.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2022