The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala intends to bring back farming practices to the controversial Methran Kayal wetlands by raising paddy and other suitable crops.
This was decided at a meeting between the State Agriculture Minister VS Sunilkumar and Agriculture Secretary Raju Narayanaswamy.
The Methran Kayal wetlands was in the news after the previous government had during its last days granted sanction to reclaim hundreds of acres of it for a proposed eco-tourism project.
The issue was dragged to the High Court where the petitioner pointed out that Methran Kayal is an enlisted ‘Ramsar’ site and a protected wetland under the Schedule of Wetland Conservation Rules 2010.
The wetland can be used only for paddy and other cultivation. Reclamation of Methran Kayal is prohibited under the Kerala Conservation of Paddy and Wetland Act, 2008.
Fallow land The petitioner contended that the government had passed the order without applying mind and in violation of the Act. The High Court directed the then government to maintain status quo.
Already, a sub-committee of the LDF government is going into a series of controversial decisions taken by the previous government during its last days, of which the Methran Kayal issue is only one.
In the case of Aranmula, the then government had issued an order to convert 500 acres of land for ‘industrial purpose.’ But the National Green Tribunal cancelled the environment clearance granted to the project.
According to the Agriculture Minister, at least 1.50 lakh hectares of prime farming land have been left idling in the State for one reason or the other over the last many years. The government would like to convert at least a third of this land in the short-term and raise crops.