Efforts are on to launch cultivation in Aranmula puncha that has been lying fallow and waterlogged for the past one decade, according to Agriculture Department sources.
Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar, accompanied by Principal Secretary Raju Narayana Swamy, would visit Aranmula puncha on August 1 as part of the government’s farming initiative, they said.
The Minister will also convene a meeting of agricultural officers in the district to explore the possibility of launching cultivation in the puncha in a time-bound manner. He has directed officers to prepare a list of other paddy fields that have been lying fallow in the district with a view to launching cultivation, wherever possible, this year itself.
Stream restoration
However, the experts attached to the department are of the opinion that the restoration of the Valiyathodu and Karimaramthodu cutting across the puncha was a dire necessity for draining out the water from the puncha. Even the temporary bund constructed in the Valiyathodu to facilitate construction of a bridge at Nalkalickal has to be fully excavated to ensure free flow of water to the Pampa through the Kozhithodu stream.
It is estimated that not less than 500 acres of paddy fields have been lying fallow in the puncha.
The Kerala High Court had directed the Pathanamthitta Collector to restore the Karimaranmthodu to its original position in a time-bound manner in June, 2014 to facilitate paddy cultivation in the puncha. But the stream restoration work is yet to be completed for reasons best known to the authorities concerned.
For immediate steps
Communist Party of India State executive committee member P. Prasad, who was in the forefront of the people’s movement in Aranmula, has called for immediate completion of the stream restoration work. Mr. Prasad said revival of paddy cultivation in Aranmula would boost the confidence of paddy farmers and farm workers in the region. He said restoration of streams was necessary to drain the puncha which has water up to a depth of 10 to 12 ft.
