Revenue minister Adoor Prakash on Friday made a surprise inspection of the paddy fields in the district as part of the government’s initiative to prepare a comprehensive databank on paddy fields in the state.
The minister along with land revenue commissioner T.O. Sooraj inspected the site for a DLF housing project on the Seaport-Airport Road and the paddy fields in Thengodu and Njarakuzhy.
The inspection comes in the background of widespread complaints on the databank, the minister told newsmen.
The formation of a databank is an important clause in the Kerala Paddy Field Wetland Conservation Act 2008. Though the detailed data of paddy fields has been compiled through satellite mapping and surveys, there are lots of complaints regarding the databank.
The minister directly inspected the paddy fields in order to assess the real situation.
At the district level a team comprising the deputy tehsildar, assistant director of the agriculture department and officials of local bodies will conduct the inspection. The team will be solely responsible for the details submitted.No outsiders or people’s representatives will be allowed to be part of the team.
A special inspection system will be formed at the state level to directly assess the paddy fields, said the minister. “The protection of paddy fields and wetlands is the declared policy of the state government. As the area of paddy fields has shrunk to only two lakh hectares during the last few decades, strict measures are needed for their conservation,” he added.