Paddy farming to be revived on Karalakam polder

The Agriculture department will take steps to revive paddy farming on the 70-acre Karalakam paddy polder in Alappuzha municipality.

The decision was made during a meeting attended by Agriculture Minister P. Prasad, people’s representatives and officials recently. Mr. Prasad said a comprehensive project worth ₹2 crore, including infrastructure development, would be implemented to revive paddy cultivation on the polder, which has been lying idle for various reasons.

The polder is spread across four wards in the municipality.

P.P. Chitharanjan, MLA, said that paddy cultivation had not been carried out at Karalakam for the past four years. He cited multiple challenges, including inadequate water inflow and outflow systems, silt accumulation in the bunds obstructing water flow, lack of facilities to transport agricultural machinery to the field and weakened outer bunds that hinder cultivation.

Alappuzha municipal chairperson K.K. Jayamma said that cultivation had not been possible despite funds being allocated in previous years to address the issues.

“The area has turned into a haven for anti-social elements. The intervention of the Agriculture department is crucial to finding a permanent solution and restarting paddy cultivation,” she said.

Mr. Prasad directed the Agriculture department’s engineering wing to carry out a study and submit a detailed proposal within 10 days.

“A ₹2-crore project will be implemented by combining funds from the Agriculture department, the MLA fund and the municipality’s allocation. The project will include the restoration of the irrigation system, strengthening of the outer bund, construction of four pump houses and development of essential infrastructure such as tractor bridges to facilitate the transportation of agricultural machinery to the field,” Mr. Prasad said.

The Minister added that discussions would be held with the Revenue department to complete the resurvey of the paddy field.

Alappuzha municipality development standing committee chairperson M.G. Sathidevi, ward councillor Ambili Arvind, Director of Agriculture Development and Farmers Welfare department Sriram Venkitaraman, Principal Agricultural Officer C. Ambili and others attended the meeting.