RAHIM YAR KHAN, Sept 28: An under-construction sugar mills on 118 acres at Karamabad near the 300-year-old town of Bolakiwala, is illegal as the environment department has not issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to this effect.

This was said by Punjab Environment Minister Makhdoom Ishfaq Ahmed Hashmi while talking to newsmen here.

“I have informed the district coordination officer in this regard.”

He said the area was popular for its cotton and orchards production and the World Bank had declared Rahim Yar Khan a model district. He said scores of farmers had come to him to protest against the illegal construction of the sugar mill.

He said the establishment of a new sugar mill would reduce the production of orchards on thousands of acres and cotton on more than 200 acres.

He said the most fertile and suitable land for cotton and mango crops would destroy owing to environmental pollution and chemical waste while the level of sub-soil water would reduce alarmingly. The minister said no action was taken so far despite the DCO had been informed.