KANNIYAKUMARI: Lack of compound wall at the north-east portion of Chenbagaramanputhoor direct paddy procurement centre (DPC) is making way for wild boars to enter the centre and damage the paddy procured from farmers and nearby areas.
The DPC at Chenbagaramanputhoor village, situated just 500 metres away from a hill range, was constructed in 2014 and has been procuring paddy since 2018. As the DPC has started procuring paddy this Kanni Poo harvest season, the lack of a compound wall has led to fear of wild boars entering the center and damaging the collected paddy. Hence, the farmers have urged the officials to construct a wall as well as increase the height of the compound wall around it.
N Rakkisamuthu, Chenbagaramanputhoor farmers association president, told TNIE that this DPC is one of the main procurement centres in the district. Though the compound wall around it was constructed since its inception, the north-east portion was left open. This led to wild boars entering the centre and damaging the paddy that was dumped on the floor of the centre last harvest season. Around 23,000 sacks each 40 kg of paddy were procured last season. This year it we are expecting more as the Kanni Poo harvest season has already started and farmers have already started bringing their paddy. Hence, to prevent the same thing from happening again this year, a compound wall should be constructed as soon as possible.
Officials from the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation said that we recently installed a new gate at the Chenbagaramanputhoor DPC, and measures are being taken to construct the compound wall.