Mir Iqbal
Srinagar, May 13: The agriculture land is shrinking at an alarming rate in Kashmir valley, particularly in south Kashmir-once known as rice bowl of Kashmir-as the Government continues to be a mere spectator to this onslaught.
As one could see swathes of “Abi-Awal” land-strictly to be used for agricultural purposes is being turned into concrete jungles with shopping malls, business units and residential buildings coming up.
A visit to various areas of Pulwama, Shopian, Anantnag and Kulgam districts in south Kashmir by Excelsior found that some land mafia has been converting paddy land into commercial purposes.
Some villagers said that with official nexus people first convert paddy land into non-paddy by sowing plant nurseries, vegetable fields and orchards. And after few years the same practice of agriculture is being abandoned and construction is carried without any trouble.
“To avoid Government wrath the farmers convert paddy fields into plant nurseries and after that the same piece of land is used for construction and other purposes,” residents of Qoimuh town in Kulgam said.
Similarly, dozens of villages in Kulgam including, Ponew, Bugoum, Qoimuh, Mir Bazar, Khudwani and other neighbouring villagers said that by planting nurseries of different fruit bearing plants fetch them much revenue annually in comparison to paddy crop.
The Horticulture Department in its recent report mentioned that the area under the apple crop has increased by 3378 hectares in 2013-14. According to the report, the area covered under apple crop was 1, 40,156 hectares which has increased to 1, 43,534 hectares in 2013-14.
Despite High Court’s directions to Government for imposing a blanket ban on raising constructions in paddy land, and in brazen violation of Section 133 of Land Revenue Act, the official reports revealed that paddy land was increasingly being used for residential and commercial purposes shrinking the land from 1.6 lakh hectares to 1.4 lakh Kanals from the last 7 years.
In Pulwama district’s village Koil, Tengwuna, Padgampora, Bandzoo, Pinglena, Gangoo, Pahoo, Kakapora, Newa, Gudoora, Tahab, Wasoora and Galender, hundreds of Kanals of agriculture land was converted into concrete mesh and authorities despite watching all this have failed to take any action any of them.
A top official in the district administration Pulwama told EXCELSIOR that a Tehsildar was suspended recently after he was trapped by vigilance for taking bribe in cases like this.
He admitted that the construction has been going on both the sides of the Srinagar-Pulwama road, but showed his helplessness to stop construction.
Notwithstanding the shrinking of agricultural land due to rapid urbanization, the fate of bill which disallows conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes was moved in the Legislative Assembly in 2011, but has been hanging in balance during the past over three years.
Agriculture experts believe that if the land conversion takes place with present pace time would not be far when every inch of paddy fields would turn either into concrete mesh.
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