PUNJAB, being the breadbasket of Pakistan, has been providing the citizens essential food, mainly wheat, sugar, rice, pulses and a variety of fruits in sufficiently large quantities. In the process, the province creates employment opportunities and enlarges the overall export volume of the country. But things are changing and there is a need to keep an eye on fresh developments and do something about them while we still can.
Due to rising population and dwindling profits, large swathes of land are being sold to builders who subsequently use the land for their housing societies. This helps the farmer selling the land, but the activity is affecting the agriculture sector.
In Narowal and Shakargar, for instance, there used to be awesome agriculture fields with abundant supply of water. At first, it seemed like the production of only these two regions would be good enough to feed the 220 million people in the country.
However, the region makes for a sorry spectacle today as the land closer to the cities, especially closer to the highways, is being mercilessly commercialised and controlled by real estate sharks. A number of housing schemes have cropped up where lush green fields used to be.
There can be little doubt, if any, that the fallout of this development would be serious in terms of the gross domestic product (GDP), as it will hurt exports and create food insecurity across the country, necessitating imports.
It would increase unemployment, inflation and affect economic growth. There is still time for the government to look into the issue and fix many of the problems being faced by the agriculture sector so that the farmers may resist the temptations offered by the builders.
The government should ensure that no agriculture land is grabbed by such sharks. All private societies must be brought into legal framework and under proper checks and balances. Pakistan would not be able to stave off the inexorable economic crisis unless it makes an allout effort to save the agrarian economy, reduce the population growth rate, and put a limit to the magnitude of the real estate encroachment on agriculture land.
Mohammad Aslam
Lahore
Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2022
