GUJRAT: The land revenue department has proposed a huge chunk of land located along Bhimber Road as a site for the establishment of Phase-II of Gujrat Industrial Estate as the Punjab Small Industries Corporation (PSIC) had withdrawn the notification of the earlier site near Saroki village on Sargodha Road.

Official sources said a piece of land measuring 611 acres, 6 kanals and 16 marlas located in three villages of Banwata, Banth and Mehsi near Mehsam Mor along Gujrat-Bhimber road was uncultivated.

The site too had a natural source of drainage the industrial waste into a storm water channel passing through the area as well a few kilometers away from an under construction Sambrial-Kharian motorway.

Gujrat Assistant Commissioner Haider Abbas and Gujrat Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Sikandar Ishfaq had selected the site after a visit to the site.

PSIC had withdrawn notification of earlier site

Gujrat Additional Deputy Commissioner Revenue (ADCR) Khizer Hayat Bhatti on the basis of the recommendation by the AC and chamber recently sent a proposal to the PSIC regional director Gujranwala about the site suitable for the project.

Some years back, 200 acres of land had been identified for the project falling in three villages Saroki, Chak Qazian and Sheikh Qureshian near Kunjah and the former PTI-PML-Q coalition government had approved Rs1.3bn for Phase II of the industrial estate in 2021-22.

A sum of Rs400m was allocated for the land acquisition whereas the land revenue department had imposed Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act in the area after which the land was mutated to the PSIC and the authorities had also taken possession of the land. However, in August, the local land revenue department returned the possession to the farmers after the PSIC withdrew the notification of the site.

It is learnt that the previous site was cancelled with the intervention of Salik Hussain, the then federal minister, who was approached by the affected farmers.

Earlier, the local farmers had also moved the Lahore High Court against the project on their land.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2023