Plan land use for the right SEZ

Thursday November 16 2006 08:55 IST
Arun Chaturvedi

There can be no human development in a country like India without the
proper utilisation of its soil and land resources. All land is not fit
for agriculture, but all land can be used for urban and industrial
purposes thanks to technological developments. ‘Prime agriculture land’
is a creation of many years of bio-physical and natural processes. It is
termed as ‘prime land’ precisely because it has the inherent capacity to
produce more than other land. Remember the old cliche, ‘one inch of soil
takes thousands of years to develop but can get washed away in minutes’.
Prime agriculture land, therefore, is a national asset.

The problem is that everybody accepts that land is a precious resource,
but when it comes to land use, it acquires political overtones. Any
irreversible changes to the land should be made after careful thought.
The devouring of agricultural land for urban use can be short-sighted; I
had termed the phenomenon the ‘Urban Demon’ in 1984.

The reason why agricultural land is used for non-agricultural purposes
should be examined carefully. Until now it was mostly to cater to
residential use, but when it is used for industrial purposes the
surrounding areas are also encroached upon to base ancillary units. The
same will happen with the proposed Special Economic Zones (SEZs). One
could argue that these activities would lead to better economic returns
as compared to when it is used for agriculture, that more people would
benefit in terms of gainful employment and that these areas would act as
a catalyst for growth. After all, developed, industrial countries have
reduced their agricultural activity and rely on imports, and India could
certainly benefit from the same.

The land use policy guidelines approved by the ‘National Land Use and
Waste Land Development Council’ in 1986, have a clause that states,
“urban policy must be restructured so as to ensure that highly
productive land is not taken away. Town planning should also provide for
green belts”. This could be a model for development.

Islands of development need to be integrated with the hinterland, whose
inhabitants feel neglected. Economic equality aside, food security is as
important as any other security measures we take. Let all prime
agriculture land around our cities be identified through a scientific
survey and be declared as protected land.

There have been suggestions that SEZs may be encouraged in wastelands so
that the biological production potential of prime agriculture lands can
be preserved. Let President A P J Kalam’s dream of PURA (Providing Urban
Amenities in Rural Areas) be fulfilled, with urban amenities reaching
rural areas.

Since all states have different agrarian and land use scenarios, it was
left to them to evolve a set of rules governing the land use options
that served their interests. Land, thus, became a state subject. As yet
no state has come out with a concrete land use policy. Kerala is the
first state to have a Land Use Act, empowering the government to prevent
the holder of land from using it to cultivate anything other than food
crops, or for any other purposes. This was necessitated because of the
large-scale conversions of paddy lands to plantation crops for economic
gain.

Most urban master plans have a provision for the conversion of
agriculture lands to non-agriculture use. Similarly there are
legislations like the Karnataka Act 31 of 1974, which deal with the
issue of the conversion of land use from agriculture to non-agriculture.
But their approach is largely revenue-oriented. No attempt is made to
approach the land problem from the point of view that it is a finite
natural resource, and which takes its quality into consideration.

The per capita availability of land is decreasing at a fast pace. The
pace is quicker when it comes to good quality agriculture land, due to
heavy demand and an increasing population. Scientifically, prime
agriculture lands are located in valleys or in the plains where
favourable climatic conditions prevail. Interestingly these are the same
areas where urbanisation has also taken place at a faster pace.

It would be useful to remember that not all land in India is cultivable.
Therefore, if cultivable land is put to industrial use, we lose out on
the chance of ever using it for agricultural purposes again. That is why
it is important that SEZs should not take away more cultivable land from
the country but instead be used as a tool for creating more town centres
in the hinterland and thereby encouraging more balanced and sustainable
economic development.

The writer is principal scientist, National Bureau of Soil Survey & Land
Use Planning, Nagpur. Views are his own arunchat55@gmail.com
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