Sangrur residents oppose use of orchard land for medical college

Residents of Sangrur have approached the Punjab Government for the cancellation of the site for the proposed medical college on the orchard land of Kheri village in Sangrur district.

The site identified for the medical college is part of the 40-acre government orchard managed by the Department of Horticulture. It happens to be one of the region’s very few thriving green belts left in the home district of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

The plantation has groves of mango trees which are more than 60 years old. Besides tall eucalyptus trees, the orchard has a repository of traditional wealth of jamun, amla, peach and jackfruit. The tree cover is also home to a myriad species of the already shrinking avian population.

In a letter to Chief Secretary KAP Singh, leading environmentalist Jasinder Sekhon has sought immediate intervention in the matter.

Replying to a The Tribune query, Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Rishi said he had got a copy of the representation against the proposed medical college. “We need to be looking into the details of all objections and only then will be able to offer our comments.”

DC Rishi said, “I can only say that the orchard does not have a very old tree plantation. Fruit-bearing plants are regularly changed. I will be able to comment officially only after going through the issues highlighted in the mail.”

The letter has quoted the Medical Council of India guidelines which read: “The medical college or medical institution shall be housed in a unitary campus of not less than 25 acres. In special cases where allowed, the distances between two campuses shall not be more than 10 km.”

The existing hospital at Mastuana was 16 km from the proposed college.

The convener of the Sangrur chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Brig Rajsher Singh Grewal (retd), said, “We are not against any developmental project. The government needs to look for an alternative site. Any construction in the already very poor fragile ecological haven flouts all regulatory norms.”

‘Not at the cost of green cover’

Saurav Garg, a legal expert, said, “We are asking for a stay on any activity on the project till there was a thorough legal review. We definitely want a medical college in Sangur, but not at the cost of already very poor green cover."

Punjab