Glass shards in fields of Ernakulam's Edakkattuvayal leave farmers injured

Edakkattuvayal: Farmers cultivating the Kunnappilly polders on the Edakkattuvayal–Amballoor panchayat border are at their wits’ end as recurring anti-social activities continue to disrupt cultivation and damage their fields.

Groups that gather along the road, which runs adjacent to the polder network, are smashing liquor bottles and flinging the shards into the fields, causing severe hardship for cultivators. Farmers say entering the fields, many of which are ready for harvest, has become hazardous, with broken glass pieces piercing their feet and leaving them injured.

Cultivation had resumed in several plots that had long remained fallow after the road passing through the middle of the paddy tract was renovated. The Edakkattuvayal panchayat had also installed benches along the scenic stretch for people who visit the area for exercise and relaxation.

However, residents allege that once night falls, the road turns into a hub for anti social activities. Groups gather to consume alcohol, create disturbances and smash bottles on the road and inside the fields. The other day, a group of farmers and local residents carried out a clean up drive, collecting the broken bottles from the road and packing them into sacks in an effort to clear the area.

Yet by nightfall, the miscreants scattered the glass pieces again across the fields and along the roadside. With the situation beginning to seriously affect cultivation, social worker and farmer Eldho Chiraykkachalil has demanded intensified night police patrolling to curb the menace.