PESHAWAR: The civil society organisations have urged the Khyber Pakhtun-khwa government to review construction of expo centre on the selected site on the historic Tarnab farms.

In a joint statement issued here on Friday, Karwaan Tanzim, Institute of Architects of Pakistan (KP chapter), Da Laas Gul, Idara-i-Taleem aur Taraqi (Bahrain), Frontier Heritage Trust and Sarhad Conservation Network said the Tarnab Farms were developed by the British in 1908 for food security and development of various agricultural products to make the region self-sufficient in both staple and cereal grains.

It said that during its 109 years history, the Tarnab Farms had significantly contributed to the economic prosperity of the farming community through introduction and evolution of high yielding varieties of crops, fruits and vegetables, standardisation of agronomic techniques and dissemination of the latest know-how on crop husbandry, soil management, fertiliser use and plant protection measures.

The statement said that 200 acres of barren land in Rashakai, Nowshera, was originally earmarked for the expo centre by both federal and the KP governments. However, under pressure from the KP Chamber of Commerce and Industry members, leading senators from PTI as well as ANP, the provincial government had diverted the original plan to precious agricultural Tarnab Farms.

On May 24, it pointed out, during the groundbreaking ceremony of the expo centre, 25 acres of farmland was destroyed, with 50,000 of orange, peach, plum and other varieties of young saplings being grown for farmers in KP and other regions for annual plantation season covering approximately 422 acres of land. This has delivered a huge blow to the agricultural industry, the statement lamented.

It added that if the Tarnab farmland is not restored, the impact on the agriculture industry of KP will become irreversible.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2017