From barren land to paddy land, Chakkarakkal is way

Kannur: Like many of their people-friendly projects, Chakkarakkal police led the public to turn nearly 77 acres of barren land cultivable and started paddy cultivation in it, at a stretch of more than 2km along Munderi Chappa to Echur Kottam. The police took up the responsibility of 2 acres of land exclusively. On Monday, paddy saplings were planted in the field. According to station house officer Biju P., tracing the real owners of the plots, which were left abandoned for quite a long time was a tedious task.

“The public were alert to not let the owners reclaim the land. Luckily we got a huge stretch of land, which could be made cultivable with the help of the public. Once the paddy is harvested, vegetables would be cultivated in the same field,” said Mr Biju. Teamed under ‘Oruma’ the locals also shared the message of working together for the land and they feel that it is a move to become self-sufficient in terms of food products.  “More than 35 people from the locality worked continuously for a month and we expect to harvest the paddy by the third month. The harvest will be shared among the residents,” said E. Narayanan, a farmer, who was in the forefront.