Industry gobbling up grazing lands

Pro-industry government sounding death knell for livestock

- As per records, the State has permanent pastures to an extent of 3.12 lakh hectares, enough for providing grazing lands to the livestock.
- People in several districts of the State are left with no option but to sell their cattle for not being able to sustain them
- Govt's initiative to pool lands to create land bank for industries might eliminate permanent pastures from government records

Hyderabad: Is the pro industry- friendly policy of the Telangana State going to eliminate forever about 3.12 lakh hectares of permanent pastures meant to be used for the State’s livestock? Unfortunately, the answer seems to be in the affirmative, going by certain recent developments.

According to sources, the Telangana State has about 58 lakh white (milch cattle) and another 48 lakh buffalo population, besides other animals, providing means of livelihood to people in the rural areas of the State. As per records, the State has permanent pastures to an extent of 3.12 lakh hectares, enough for providing grazing lands to the livestock.

However, at the behest of politicians, officials of revenue and other departments have indiscriminately diverted these lands for other purposes, including issuing pattas, so much so that the State is now reeling under acute shortage of fodder for the livestock. In particular, during drought-like situation, people in several districts of the State are left with no option, but to sell their cattle for not being able to sustain them.

Taking a serious view of this, the State government has come up with a plan to address the issue. Accordingly, whenever a shepherds' association seeks, the officials immediately provide five acres of land for growing fodder as per orders, said an official of the State Animal Husbandry Department. The government would also provide quality seeds to grow fodder on subsidy, he added.

Still, the State government’s efforts have not yielded substantial results as permanent pastures have already been diverted and many of them exist only on paper. “Both the political leadership and officials consider restoring lands earmarked as grazing lands would be a sensitive issue. Hence, no attempts are being made as it was done in the case of urban areas, where efforts were made to restore open spaces and clear encroached lung spaces and others meant for common utilities,” sources said.

Senior officials from the Animal Husbandry Department feel that the permanent pastures had been diverted in the undivided Andhra Pradesh. Still, large chunks of these grazing lands are still in government records. But, the new initiative of the State government to pool lands to create land bank for industries might permanently eliminate the permanent pastures from government records, they pointed out.

VRC Phaniharan