FAISALABAD: A mounting housing crunch is fast devouring Pakistan’s agricultural lands, which may have cascading effects on the country’s food security in years to come. In Lahore alone, he said 70% of agricultural land has been converted to housing and industrial units, followed by Gujrat where the ratio is 60%. “If this trend is not checked immediately, mark my words, we will have to face serious food security issues in coming years,” he warned. UNNECESSARYArif Hassan, a Karachi-based urban planner, views the entire phenomenon as “unnecessary.”“Building of these housing societies has nothing to do with the country’s housing problem. Further constructions on forest and agricultural lands will leave us nowhere [in terms of the environment],” she said.

Source: Pakistan Today March 31, 2021 08:37 UTC