UP govt launches campaign to reclaim grazing land for livestock

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh govt has launched an extensive campaign to reclaim pasture land parcels for animals across the state. As part of the initiative, authorities have so far freed over 4,741 hectares from illegal encroachments out of a total of 6,931 hectares that need to be reclaimed. The initiative aims to restore essential grazing areas, benefiting livestock and supporting the agricultural community.Data maintained by the revenue department shows that there is a total of 61,305 hectares of pasture land in the state. Of this, 6,931 hectares have been occupied illegally by encroachers. So far, illegal encroachments have been removed from 4,741 hectares of land parcels.In Deoria, out of the 256 hectares of pasture land, 16.5 hectares were illegally encroached upon. The local administration has managed to clear 5.4 hectares so far. Similarly, in Jaunpur, 21 hectares out of the 71 hectares under illegal occupation have been freed. In the western UP district of Shamli, 27 hectares out of the 106 hectares taken over illegally have been cleared. Similar drives have been initiated in the Bijnor, Sambhal, Ghaziabad, and Mau districts.According to the animal husbandry department, 6,708 rural cow shelters are operational in the state. While 3,060 of these have been provided with pasture land where cattle can easily find green fodder, similar pasture land will be earmarked for the remaining shelters in the coming months.