Unchecked housing expansion threatens food security: Iqbal

Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday sounded alarm over the unchecked conversion of fertile agricultural land into housing societies, terming it an "existential threat" to the country's food security.

Terming the trend a looming crisis, Iqbal warned that the rampant spread of real estate developments over arable land could jeopardise the country's ability to feed future generations.

"Will the coming generations have enough to eat?" he asked, adding that food security was under severe and immediate threat.

The federal minister expressed these views while chairing a high-level meeting to address the issue.

The meeting was attended by senior officials from federal and provincial departments, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and representatives of relevant ministries.

Iqbal stressed that urgent measures must be adopted to reverse this trend, particularly by promoting vertical construction in cities like Islamabad to reduce horizontal urban sprawl.

He also urged strict laws to curb deforestation, calling environmental preservation a shared national responsibility.

The minister directed provincial authorities to compile data on the extent of agricultural land lost to housing schemes over the past two decades. He noted that the absence of proper urban planning has strained infrastructure and triggered systemic crises.

"We are selling our food future by blindly consuming agricultural land," he lamented. "The environmental balance in Pakistan is deteriorating; housing greed is devouring farmland."