Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Apr 22: Constantly delayed for one year, the work on much talked about Rs 100 crore Biotech Park at Ghati Kathua is likely to start soon as the Pollution Control Board has given its clearance to the project.
According to highly placed sources, the work on the project was constantly delayed for about one year as the Pollution Control Board had laid all such projects in the red zone. However, after changing the guidelines for all such projects by the Union Environmental Ministry, the industry was brought from red zone to green zone and as a consequence if it, decks have been cleared for the construction of Biotech Park at Ghati as well, sources added.
Sources said the Biotech Park will be developed on 80 kanals of land and the Department of Science and Technology which has been allotted the land on lease will sign the lease deed within some days for the project which has now come under green category. After signing of lease deed, the Department will take the possession of the land, sources added.
In the first instance, the entire land will be fenced with compound walling followed by submission of tender documents to Cabinet for approval, sources said, adding after seeking the approval from the Cabinet the global tenders will be floated for construction of Biotech Park which will be first of its kind in entire Northern India, sources said.
Sources said as the decks have been cleared now the work on the Biotech Park will start within two to three months.
When contacted Joint Director Science and Technology Mushtaq Ahmed said that SIDCO had kept two conditions for the allotment of land for the project. First was seeking of No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Power Development Department (PDD) and second was NOC from Pollution Control Board (PCB).
He said the NOC from PDD was obtained within some days but it took about a year in seeking clearance from PCB as the Cabinet order for the allotment of land was issued in April last year and land was allotted in May, last year. However, the possession was delayed by SIDCO for seeking clearance from PCB.
He said the project would not have been cleared even yet had the Union Minister in PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh not taken personal interest in this regard. It was with his personal efforts that other Biotech parks to be developed in other parts of the country got the environment clearance, he added.
It may be recalled that Dr Jitendra Singh soon after taking over as Union Minister in 2014 announced the Biotech Park for Kathua to boost the economy of rural people in the State.
Dr Jitendra Singh had also proposed another Biotech Park for the Valley but due to the delay in identification of the land till date no headway could be made in this regard.
Sources said with the development of the Biotech Park at Kathua, the revenue of the people in rural belt will increase by three to four times from the same area of land as the State has a capacity of growing large number of medicinal and aromatic plants and improvised verities of these plants will be provided from the industrial Biotech Park Germplasm Bank.
Sources said to increase their income the people can grow these plants individually or on community basis so that large scale cultivation is done and the post harvest processing can be done in the Industrial Biotech Park. The material will be processed in the Biotech Park and the value added product will be marketed, sources added.
The Biotech park can lend support to the people intending to start the business of medicinal and aromatic plants, sources said, adding most modern technologies will be provided to produce innovative biotech products from the material brought from the farmers fields through most modern post harvest technologies.
Besides, the quality control and quality analysis will be provided at industrial biotech park by creating State of art facilities for analysis work, sources said adding, people who want to get their preliminary work done in their own way will be provided lab space to carry on their innovation on very nominal charges.
Sources said the Industrial Biotech Park will help in establishing links of the farmers with the probable customers who will directly purchase the finished or raw material from the farmers. Moreover, a big tissue culture laboratory will be established in Industrial Biotech Park Ghati where large scale plantlets desired by the farmers will be produced to help them to start their business.
The Biotech Park will help in providing organic certification from the concerned agencies and also produce biofertlizers and bio pesticides for use in such areas, sources said, adding the Park will also provide help in the fields of general agriculture, human, animal and plant health, medicinal aromatic and production of enzymes for food and agro industry.
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