Shopian residents demand change of location for industrial area
Shopian: The decision of government to sanction an industrial area at Reshinagri and Feripora of District Shopian is annoying the locals, residents alleged Wednesday.
The people of twin villages are against the decision of government as according to locals the sanctioned land in both the villages is adjacent to Vishaw Nallah which is the source of drinking water to hundreds of villages.
“By establishing the industrial estate in the area hundreds of villages will have to drink contaminated water in near future. Besides this the industrial estate can have adverse affects on quality and quantity of Apple orchards as the people of area are wholly dependent on Apple economy,” they said.
“The industrial estate will also add noise pollution as the proposed site is close to habitation which can have a direct impact on the studies of the children”, they added.
“Sanctioning an industrial estate in the area is against the Sustainable Development goal for which the government is showing concern on international forums,” said Tahir Ahmad ,a local DDC member.
“We are witnessing the destruction of water bodies everywhere but Nallah Vishaw which perhaps is the only purest one in whole of the UT may also experience bad impact,” he added.
“The need of the hour is to preserve such water bodies rather than to destroy them,” he said, adding that, on one side government is issuing orders to clean the polluted water bodies and is warning the people who are directly or indirectly involved in polluting water bodies on the other side it is sanctioning the establishment of such industries whose waste products can prove lethal for water bodies.
He along with locals requested higher ups to look into the matter at an earliest and take steps accordingly.
They said that there are separate locations available at several spots where industrial areas can be established.
