State made big leap in organic farming, water conservation: CM

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said people of the state with one mind had accepted the Haritha Keralam Mission. Inaugurating the first anniversary of the mission ‘Haritha Sangamam 2017’  programme here on Thursday, he said in the last one year the state could achieve major gains in  waste treatment, water conservation and organic farming.

He said in the next three months, projects for bio-waste treatment and re-use of inorganic waste will be implemented in 300 local bodies. The stress will be on decentralised waste treatment. But in major cities centralised waste treatment is necessary.

On the water conservation sector 15,000 new wells were dug and 10,000 ponds were cleaned. 3500 kilometre canals were recharged and 1,500 km canals were cleaned. He said the government had decided to strictly implement the direction to set apart a certain portion of the plot   for water conservation when buildings above a stipulated area were constructed.

On the agricultural front, the Chief Minister said it was aimed to extend the paddy cultivation to 3 lakh hectares from below 2 lakh hectares. The Chief Minister also claimed that vegetable production touched almost self-sufficiency level  during Onam.The fruit and pesticide free vegetable has also to be produced in the state. Under the forest department’s initiative 86 lakh tree saplings  were planted.

Minister for Cooperation Kadakampally Surendran presided over the event. Ministers Mathew T Thomas, V S Sunil Kumar, K T Jaleel, K K Shylaja , Mayor V K Prasanth, Kozhikode Mayor Thottathil Raveendran, MPs A Sampath, C P Narayanan, Planing Board vice-chairman V K Ramachandran, district panchayath president V K Madhu, Planning and Economic Affairs Secretary Sharmila Mary Joseph, Haritha Keralam executive vice-chairperson T N Seema, Kanhangad municipal chairman V V Rameshan and local body office-bearers attended.