Fast conversion of agricultural land to hurt food security prospects

Speakers at a seminar on Thursday expressed concerns over fast conversion of agriculture land into commercial and residential properties across the major cities of the Sindh province, saying the haphazard move would hurt food security badly in the future.
The experts and observers came to a consensus during the general discussion session of the programme, which Shehri-CBE organised at a local hotel, asking the government to equally distribute resources in urban and rural areas of the province to benefit people of both parts indiscriminately. They noted that Karachi's land for further construction was left and builders were seen now undertaking their residential and commercial projects near other cities particularly Hyderabad, eroding fast the rural areas of the province.
They demanded that Malir and Gadap towns should be restored as they had been in the past, supplying vegetables to the whole Karachi on a daily basis, saying drinking water supplied to the areas was unhygienic and causing serious kidney and hepatitis diseases to residents. Malir is no more a sources of fresh vegetables to the city because of lack of infrastructure and other needed supports, they added.
They said the fast urbanisation was causing damage to the Sindhi culture in rural parts and forcing the indigenous people to move elsewhere. They said in the Indus River belt people had illegally built a huge colony, which had all basic amenities including power and water.
They were of the view that the major development projects in both rural and urban centers lacked execution during many provincial governments' tenure, saying implementation should be carried out to build better infrastructure in the province.
They also observed that the urbanisation drive was depriving the rural folks of their rights of ownership and destroying their economic resources. They said the agriculture land of the province be protected from the rapid urban erosion and cities should be built on modern lines.
Participants demanded of the government to introduce a better and clear policy to protect the rights of urban and rural people to have their own homes and property and solve public's other civic issues on an immediate basis.
They said devolution plan of 2001 has failed as gap in development in urban and rural sectors had significantly increased. They said rural parts had not received attention of the authorities and had been left completely underdeveloped, whereas concentration was fully stuck to urban areas, which had witnessed a huge development. They said rural resources be spent on its development.
They demanded of the government to restore the 1979 local bodies' ordinance which had solutions to the general public issues whereas the 2001 one had failed to show results and created unequal distribution of resources. They said people migrating from Karachi to Hyderabad and the authorities should know that the fresh influx would create other civic and social problems, besides law and order issue.
They said local communities should also be empowered through education so that they could decide what sort of development projects they would like to allow taking place and protect their social and economic rights in a better way. Regarding restoring peace in Karachi, they suggested that the government should invite all stakeholders and address their issues.
Earlier, the Urban Planner and member of Shehri-CBE, Farhan Anwar and Senior Consultant, Saeed Ahmed Khan spoke on the development projects and planning for rural Karachi. Those who participated during the seminar included, Shehri-CBE activist, Naureen, DG Mass Transit CDGK, Malik Zaheer-ul-Islam, Shah Muhammad Misbah, Chandio and many others.