Software engineer, advocate, dentist, RTI activist…: faces behind the protest movement

“We first read about the Mattewara Industrial Park in July 2020. The PAC was formed in the second week of July with a handful of members and I was one of them. Despite the pandemic, we held meetings both online as well as offline to build up the momentum. We never wanted to lose this jungle in the name of development. In the past two years, I have visited Mattewara jungle more than 50 times and many of our meetings have been held at the proposed project site… people from all walks of life joined our meeting on July 10, so the government had no choice but to retreat. I vividly remember how AAP leaders including Bhagwant Mann used to speak against the project but they changed their stance after coming to power. Public protest forced them to back out,” he said.

Kapil Arora

Kapil Arora (46), Civil Engineer

A consultant civil engineer based in Ludhiana, Arora said: “I have been involved with several social issues for more than five years and Mattewara textile park was one of them.”

He added, “We had been visiting various government offices since July 2020. In November 2020, I saw a notice in newspapers in which public objections were invited regarding amendments in the master plan of Ludhiana so as to convert it into an industrial zone from a no-manufacturing zone. As public objections were invited, so public started objecting. In May 2021, we filed a case in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) against the project. During this period, we were misguided that it will be a mixed industrial zone and not a textile park alone. But in November 2021, we saw a notification uploaded on the website of the Punjab government that talked about industrial park with textile units and hence we filed yet another case in the NGT in February 2022. On April 8, DC Ludhiana and three others were asked to file by June 10, their reply to how they envisaged to protect the flood plain area (as the land in question is close to Sutlej river as well as Mattewara forest). That reply hasn’t been given by the administration yet…”

HC Arora

HC Arora (71), High Court Advocate

Advocate HC Arora provided voluntary legal aid to the PAC. He said, “I have raised various cases concerning irrational chopping of trees… I got stay orders on tree chopping on Muktsar-Ferozepur Road, and Sadik to Kanaha Road, among others. Getting involved in this project was the voice of my inner soul and the battle hasn’t ended yet. We will watch how the government returns the land to village panchayats as it has been acquired by Greater Area Ludhiana Development Authority (GLADA).”

Kuldeep Singh Khaira

Kuldeep Singh Khaira (44), Dairy Businessman and RTI Activist

Khaira got into activism after the college he had enrolled in turned out to be a fake one. He said, “The PAC had been working hard since July 2020 but the momentum built up since June 28, 2022, when Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann advocated in favour of the project in the Vidhan Sabha. We were shocked as his old videos are still with us in which he criticised the previous Congress government for pursuing the project. Many other AAP leaders, too, protested along with us. The movement gained such momentum that a sea of people joined the protest opposing the project on July 10. Hence the government had to bow before public strength.”

Amandeep Singh Bains

Dr Amandeep Singh Bains (42), Dentist

Dr Bains attended almost every meeting of the PAC and has been a force behind the protest. He said, “The area in question is on the flood plains, so how can they allow industrial construction in this zone? We are not against development but against degradation of the environment.”

Col Chander Mohan Lakhanpal

Col Chander Mohan Lakhanpal (retd) (77), Ex-Serviceman

Col Lakhanpal motivated all PAC members and he did not allow anybody to slack up at any given point of time, said Khaira, Jaskirat and other PAC members.

Ranjodh Singh

Ranjodh Singh (57), Industrialist

He did numerous photo, video shoots in and around Mattewara forest to show what damage the proposed textile park might cause to the environment. Many industrialist associations supported the project but Ranjodh differed from the views of fellow businessmen.