Islamabad: Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal has warned that the trend of rapidly converting agricultural lands into housing societies in Pakistan could lead to a serious food security crisis.
He chaired an important meeting in which representatives of the CDA, ministries and provincial governments participated. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss measures to save agricultural lands.
Ahsan Iqbal raised the question of whether food will be available to future generations after the depletion of agricultural lands at the current rate? He said that the ecological balance has deteriorated and the greed for housing is swallowing agricultural lands.
He stressed that vertical construction should be promoted immediately in Islamabad and strict laws should be made on cutting trees.
The federal minister said that a complete record should be collected of how much land was converted into residential schemes in the next 20 years. The spread of cities without urban planning is creating a crisis of basic amenities.
He said that urban development without legislation and a national framework is proving dangerous, and to stop this, the federal and provincial governments will have to work together to formulate a comprehensive policy.
