KOTTAYAM: Calling for a rethink on the traditional farming pattern in Kuttanad wetlands, Additional Chief Secretary P H Kurian has mooted new methods of revenue sources in Kuttanad. He was speaking at seminar on ‘Rehabilitation of flood victims and rebuilding of Kuttanad’ organised by the Archbishop Kuriakose Kunnassery Foundation here on Friday.
Registering his personal opinion in the matter, Kurien said the time has arrived to look into the possibilities of turning Upper Kuttanad into a fresh water reservoir taking into account the damage caused by floods in Kuttanad. “The experience from the flood has forced me to rethink. With hindsight, we should change the farming pattern in Kuttanad. We should think about developing a fresh water reservoir in Upper Kuttanad. We can attach tourism to this and add fish farming here,” he said.
He also called for land-specific building rules for the state instead of a common building rule for hilly, plain and coastal land. Muralee Thummarukudy, chief of Disaster Risk Reduction in the UN Environment Programme, said cancelling celebrations on account of the floods and their aftermath is not a right choice.
“Celebrations should be conducted in a way to benefit the flood victims,” he said.
“Kuttanad is not favourable for paddy cultivation. Once famine was widespread here. The people worked hard on an unfavourable land to cultivate rice. We don’t need to follow such practices blindly,” he said.
Former Indian Ambassador T P Sreenivasan was the moderator. Agriculture expert K G Padmakumar, Justice Cyriac Joseph, Thomas Chazhikkadan spoke. Anto Antony MP, MLAs Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and Mons Joseph were present