Call for action against conversion of agricultural land into housing plots in Kanniyakumari district
The Hindu
Activists and farmers in Kanniyakumari urge authorities to stop farmland conversion for real estate, threatening agriculture and waterways.
Activists and farmers associations in Kanniyakumari district are urging the authorities to take swift action to halt the conversion of agricultural lands into real estate plots, as these unregulated farmland conversion was contributing to the rapid urbanization of rural areas and negatively affecting the nearby fertile lands and waterways.
The fertile district was once the rice bowl of erstwhile Travancore kingdom. However, in the last 10 years, many of these paddy fields have turned into real estate plots.
As these agricultural lands and waterbodies are interlinked to each other, the recent developments have affected farmers relying on agriculture.
In 2021, the then Collector of Kanniyakumari district M. Aravind had issued an order against non agricultural activity on wet agriculture lands.
Chenbagasekara Pillai, a farmer and activist, says the rapid conversion of these farms lands were extremely threatening. “It is worrying to see that the future generation might grow up without knowing about their native land. The district once cultivated rice in 55,000 hectares, but now it has diminished to around 8,000 hectares,” he added.
He noted that these developments also encroached upon the wetlands and waterbodies of the district, which further led to obstructing the waterway of canals or streams. He mentioned that paddy fields in the Theroor region also called “Theroor pathu” is the largest in the district, as it has around 2,000 hectares of paddy fields now under threat of being converted into real estate plots, due to the construction of the new bypass road and other developments.
Muthu, another farmer, said that a major portion of the most fertile Thirupathisaram area had fallen into the trap of real estate developments following other regions such as Boothapandi, Putheri and Erachakulam.
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