Copyright thehindu
The farmers’ grievance redressal meeting held at the Collectorate in Kanniyakumari on Thursday highlighted the issues of poor maintenance of paddy procurement centres, shortage of urea and the damage caused to the irrigation channel in Palliyadi by the road works of National Highway Authority of India. At the meeting, Chenbasekara Pillai, a farmer from Thittuvilai, along with other farmers, raised concern over maintenance of paddy procurement centres, including Chenbagaramanputhoor and Parakkai, in the district. The delay in maintenance of procurement centres had damaged the harvested grain stored at the centres. T hey also sought an increase in the maximum retail price for the procured paddy. Farmers from hilly regions of the district highlighted the shortage of urea in their area and urged the district administration to take action on the issue. Collector R. Alagumeena said action would be taken to address the urea shortage in deficit areas and directed the officials to submit a proposal for the maintenance of paddy procurement centres in the district. A.Vins Anto of Kodhayar irrigation committee said the NHAI had damaged the “Pattanam Kaal”, irrigation channel in the Palliyadi area. “Already, the delayed work of NHAI has affected the agricultural lands getting irrigated through Pattanam Kaal. However, in the past few days, they have developed a structure during the night time, damaging the channel,” he said. Also, the high influx of rainwater in Thikkanamcode channel would breach the channel. Ms. Alagumeena condemned the NHAI authorities for developing a structure without proper consultation with the Public Works Department. She directed the authorities to immediately redress the issue. Farmers also highlighted wild boar menace and wild animal intrusions in some parts of the district. In response, the Collector directed the authorities to take action to prevent wild animal intrusion into the farmlands. A. Anbu, District Forest Officer, Vinay Kumar Meena, Padmanabhapuram Sub Collector, Michael Antony Fernando, Project Director, Rural Development Agency, and other officials were present.
