Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Mullakkara joins issue with Thomas

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran on Monday refuted the statement by Union Minister of State for Agriculture K.V. Thomas that there was delay on the part of the State government in implementing the Kuttanad package.

In a statement here, the Minister said the delay was account of the fact that the Centre had not approved the Kuttanad Project as a package and wanted schemes of various sizes to be submitted separately to different Union ministries. The State was actually losing the benefits of a package, as each scheme was being evaluated separately. Besides, there were problems in bringing some of the schemes under the existing Central schemes. The norms specified for several Central schemes were not suited to Kuttanad, considering the peculiarities of the region. Besides, the Central schemes could not cover all activities proposed in the package. Mr. Ratnakaran said if the Centre was keen on timely implementation of the project, it should have sanctioned it as a package instead of subjecting individual schemes to procedural wrangles. The State wanted the Union Ministers to intervene in this matter. However, it was going ahead with activities under the current dispensation. Following the stipulation that the State should bear the cost of small schemes, it had issued orders for taking up schemes costing less than Rs. 50 lakh.

He recalled that agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan had submitted his report for the package in September 2007. The Centre approved it in August 2008 in general terms. However, allocation of funds was subject to clearances by different departments such as Agriculture, Irrigation, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries. For the current financial year, the State government has earmarked Rs. 30 crore for taking up three important water regulation schemes. It had also taken steps to start recessioning works at the C and D blocks (Rani and Chittira) of Kuttanad, renovation and cleaning of A. C. Canal and works in the ‘Kari lands’ expecting clearance from the Centre. Besides, proposals costing Rs.473.74 crore had been submitted, including those relating to agriculture, animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries. The Agricultural Production Commissioner had held several rounds of discussions with the Central government officials in this respect. Expression of interest had been called for preparing major projects. The Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, and Centre for Water Resources Development and Management, Kozhikode, had been entrusted with a study for preparation of projects related to the Thanneermukkom bund and Thottappally spillway.

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