Education minister C Raveendranath bats for wetland-based model

Kochi: Education Minister C. Raveendranath, who is in charge of Ernakulam district, has stressed the need to develop a wetland-based development model considering the abundant backwaters, canals and creeks in the district. While addressing a meeting to review the preparatory measures taken by civic bodies to implement the state government’s Haritha Keralam project which will be inaugurated on December 8, the minister said that the district needed a sustainable and continuous development model based on its geographical features.

“Efforts should be made for conservation of water sources along with recharging underground water through greening initiatives. Programmes under the Haritha Keralam Mission should not be conceptualized just for campaigning, rather it should have a clear perspective and sustainability,” the minister said.

On December 8, the minister will inaugurate the project as part of which more than one acre of land near the district panchayat office at Kakkanad will be cleaned. The area will be converted to an organic vegetable farm with the support of Kudumbasree Mission workers, residents’ associations, school and college students and government employees. During the function, the minister will distribute saplings of vegetables to members of 17000 self-help groups in the district.