MULTAN: The government must ban the construction of new sugar mills in cotton cultivated areas of Southern Punjab to guard the cotton industry.
Talking to Customs Today, Pakistan Cotton Ginning Association chairman Haji Muhammad Akram said that setting up of unlawful sugar mills in Southern Punjab will have detrimental effects on the cotton and ginning industries in the region.
He said that Southern Punjab produced more than 5 million cotton bales during the previous cotton season and more than 500 cotton ginning factories are operational in South Punjab which also reflects the volume of cotton production in this area. He stated that despite a stay orders of High Courts, unlawful construction of sugar mills in Bahawalpur and Muzzafargarh continued.
He said that the construction of new sugar mills will destroy the economic balance of the cotton belt and, consequently, the land will become barren due to salinity and water logging.
He further stated that the construction of sugar mills is disregarding national laws, rules and regulations, and hurting the textile and cotton industries.
He emphasised that the cotton industry holds an important place in the economy and hence, any destructive effect could create serious repercussions.
“If the cartel of sugar mills is not stopped, it would result in the destruction of the cotton ginning industry, consequently more than 5,000 families connected with ginning and cotton industry would be unemployed.”
He urged the government to impose ban on the construction of Sugar mills in the cotton belt areas instantly by taking steps to address this serious issues.
