Peshawar: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has decided to formulate legislation to prevent agricultural lands from being used for the development of illegal housing societies in the province, according to news sources.
In a related development, the Agriculture and Livestock Department (KP) has revealed that all housing schemes will now have to mandatorily acquire a no-objection certificate from the government prior to launching their residential projects on farmlands. It has further indicated that preference would be given to housing projects constructed on infertile lands – in order to reduce developmental pressure on agriculture zones.
The department officials further stated that out of KP’s total 20.646 million acres of land, over 4.627 million acres were currently under cultivation; with 16.18 million acres being non-cultivable. So far, a total of 14 projects have been approved to bring this unproductive land under cultivation; including 11 projects proposed under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2019-2020.
Reportedly, the government’s released funds for these projects are mainly focused on pursuing watercourse enhancements, protecting water resources in rain-flooded areas, developing small and medium dams, and the cultivation of prominent crops and livestock-rearing.
These projects are part of the federal and provincial governments’ joint effort to promote the agriculture, fisheries and livestock sectors in the merged districts to alleviate poverty.
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