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Pune, June 17: NOTED water expert and former chairman of Maharashtra State Water Commission Madhavrao Chitale on Sunday called for immediate control of unplanned urbanisation that was resulting in cities like Pune encroaching upon the surrounding irrigated land, which he described as a ‘social sin’.

Chitale was speaking to the media during a field visit to Panshet-Varasgaon dams vicinity organised by Pune Union of Working Journalists (PUWJ).
“Not long ago cities like Pune were surrounded by huge tracts of well irrigated land, where agricultural activities were in full swing round the year. But the rapid growth of cities virtually consumed these irrigation systems, destroying the agriculture tracts,” Chitale said.

He further explained that out of the 18 crore hectare of land in India, 15 crore hectares was good agricultural land. Only around 3 crore hectares was fallow land ideal for planning cities, building industry or special economic zones (SEZs).

However, Chitale said that there was no official survey or assessment of land in the country, and cities continued to grow at the cost of agriculture lands. Urban centres like Pune, Nashik, Dhule, Malegaon and many others were examples of such unplanned growth.

Chitale said that the growth in agriculture sector had helped India evade food security problems, especially so during the past decade. However, the coming decade would be a challenge with even Punjab witnessing a steady fall in wheat production, he added. “While agricultural production had stagnated, the population of the country has been growing steadily which would eventually affect food security,” he said.

Referring to the establishment of the Maharashtra Water Resources Authority, which led to a new law on use of water for agricultural purpose, Chitale said important issues like the requirement of water for livestock were not considered while formulating the law.

He said it was a challenge for the media to understand these issues and present them in the right perspective.

Source:PUNE Newsline