Reconsidering Punjab's Urban Expansion

A Call for Sustainable and Demand-Driven Development

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Punjab's identity as an agrarian state is deeply rooted in its fertile lands and hardworking farming community.

The state's economy has long been anchored in agriculture, with nearly two-thirds of the population directly or indirectly dependent on it for their livelihood. Farming and its allied sectors remain the backbone of employment and economic activity in Punjab. In simple terms, if money flows from agriculture, only then do other economic activities flourish. Punjab's total geographical area spans around 50.36 lakh hectares, with approximately 41 lakh hectares currently under cultivation-a slight decline from the earlier 42 lakh hectares. Forest land accounts for about 2.93 lakh hectares. As of 2019, the total road length in Punjab was 1,47,862kilometers, and this has only increased with newer infrastructure projects in recent years. As roads expand, the land under roadways also rises, gradually eating into agricultural and green zones. In this context, the Punjab government's recent changes to the 2013 land pooling policy and introduction of a new urban development scheme merit critical examination. Under the revised scheme, significant tracts of prime farmland are being acquired in key cities such as Mohali and Ludhiana for urban estates aimed at residential, commercial, and industrial development. Around 6,285 acres in Mohali and 24,311 acres in Ludhiana have been earmarked for such projects. Likewise other major cities towns has been brought under the project with total land pooling of 40000 acres.While urbanization is an inevitable aspect of development, the scale and urgency of these projects raise pertinent questions: Is there a genuine and immediate need for such extensive land acquisition? Has the government conducted any credible demand surveys to justify this level of urban expansion?