Real estate biz eating into farm lands in Vizag

VISAKHAPATNAM: With real estate sector booming in parts of Vizag city, cultivation of paddy, pulses, groundnut, and other allied activities are at the risk of vanishing from the district in next eight to ten years.Experts in agriculture sector and real estate businessmen hinted that except in one or two localities, farming activities will disappear from the city. The undivided Vizag district had around 3.7 lakh hectares of farming land and mostly, rice, sugarcane, pulses, and millets were grown. Now, the area under cultivation of such crops has been reduced to 6,038 hectares as Vizag district was divided into three districts.Speaking to TOI, district agriculture officer (Vizag), K Appalaswamy, said of the total 6,038 hectares of farmland in Vizag, over 50 per cent is located in Padmanabham mandal in the city. As the city has been growing towards north, real estate businessmen are moving towards Anandapuram and Bheemili as the remaining parts of the city have turned into concrete jungles. If the trend continues, agriculture activities might be confined to some areas of Padmanabham mandal, which is a little away from the core of the urban area, and that too may disappear in future, he added.The agricultural lands in Vizag are mostly rain-fed and farmers have small holdings in all the seven mandals. Paddy is grown in 2,315 hectares in Padmanabham mandal, 919 ha in Pendurthi, 634 ha in Anandapuram, 541 ha in Bheemili, 17 ha in Gajuwaka, 36 ha in Chinagadili and 6 ha in Pedagantyada. In addition to paddy, the farmers are also growing sugar cane, bajra and sesamum. The total output of paddy during kharif is only four tonnes and in rabi six tonnes.There is very little land left for real estate projects in the core area of Vizag city and, at the same time, the prices are touching an all-time high. We are chalking out plans for more real estate projects on the outskirts of the city. The farmers in Anandapuram and Bheemili have been showing interest in giving their lands to property developers, said president of CREDAI Vizag city chapter, B Srinivas.Agriculture activities in Vizag city would become a thing of the past in one decade as the real estate sector has been reducing the farming land. Agriculture activities are needed for the protection of the environment. The government must take steps for the balance, said environmental activists.