Farmers leave 120 acres fallow in Kanjiramukku as faulty shutter lets saline water into fields

Kanjiramukku: Farmers in Kanjiramukku have decided to leave 120 acres of paddy fields fallow this season due to their inability to operate the shutter of the Vented Cross Bars (VCB) at Purangu Madathi Thodu stream. The VCB was established to prevent saline water from the Kanjiramukku river from entering the Madathi Thodu stream and to avert waterlogging in nearby paddy fields. However, the structure has now become non-operational, with its shutter mechanism completely jammed.

Local residents, after much struggle, have managed to lift the shutter when heavy rains lash the region, to allow floodwaters to drain. But repeated attempts to block saline water intrusion by lowering the shutter, which is operated manually, have failed. As a result, saline water has entered the fields near the Kanjiramukku temple, rendering them unfit for cultivation.

Office-bearers of the Polder Committee have decided to keep the entire polder network fallow this time, noting that any attempt to cultivate without fixing the shutter could lead to saline intrusion into adjoining polders as well.

An expert team from Malampuzha has estimated that about ₹30 lakh will be required to install a new shutter that can be rolled up and down efficiently. Polder Committee secretary B Unnikrishnan and panchayat ward member Hilar Kanjiramukku have urged authorities to take immediate action to repair the VCB and enable farming in the next season.