Jalandhar: Senior Congress leader and Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjeet today criticised the Punjab government for ignoring and overlooking the opinion of scientists and other experts in Punjab about fish farming. He wondered as how the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal went all the way to China without bothering about the ground realities in the state.
In a statement issued here today, Rana congratulated the scientists and other experts for cautioning the state and people going for fish farming without assessing the quality of the water as it can prove to be hazardous.
The senior Congress leader pointed out, it is a confirmed fact that the ground water in most of Punjab, particularly in Malwa region is contaminated and has also been found to be one of the main causes of cancer over there. He said, if the fish are grown in such water it can simply prove to be a carrier of the disease and transmit it to the humans.
The Kapurthala MLA said, he had earlier also suggested to the Chief Minister that instead of going all the way to China at the cost of his own time and the state resources, he should have taken the opinion of experts at home and learnt from the experiences of the fish farmers in the neighbouring and nearby states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
“What may suit China may not necessarily suit Punjab for environmental and other geographical reasons”, he remarked, while adding, the local experiences would have served the purpose better.
Rana Gurjeet also asked the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal to share his experiences in Spain with the people of the state. “People of Punjab have a right to know what you achieved in Spain after spending so much resources of a fund starved state”, he demanded, while asking, “or it was just a joy ride in the name of learning about sewage and drainage in that country”. He observed, internet may prove to be more informative than Sukhbir’s learning visit to Spain.
