The Uttar Pradesh government has launched an extensive campaign to reclaim pasture land from illegal encroachments
Following the crackdown, the state has freed 4,740 hectares out of 6,930 hectares marked for reclamation so far.
It is aimed at restoring necessary grazing areas to benefit livestock and support the agricultural community.
According to the Yogi Adityanath government, UP has a total of more than 61,304 hectares of pasture land.
Of this, about 6,930 hectares have been identified as illegally occupied till Oct 15, 2024. So far, more than 4,740 hectares has been cleared of illegal occupation in districts including Deoria, Jaunpur, Shamli etc.
Similar efforts are also underway in Bijnor, Mau, Sambhal and Ghaziabad districts to reclaim marked encroached land.
Regarding green fodder production on pasture land, the UP animal husbandry department reports that there are 6,708 rural cow shelters in the state. Among these, 3,060 are associated with tagged pasture land, which makes up 45.62 percent of the total cow shelters.
The area of tagged pasture land from cow shelters is 9,334 hectares, with 3,107 hectares dedicated to green fodder, accounting for 33.29 percent of the tagged pasture land area.