Pottery unit in Thrissur shuttered for 8 years, machinery left to rust
An abandoned Kodakara pottery unit, built for one crore rupees under the 'Kumbhara Unnathi' scheme, stands ruined and powerless after eight years due to panchayat neglect, stalled funds, and unresolved land ownership disputes.
An abandoned Kodakara pottery unit, built for one crore rupees under the 'Kumbhara Unnathi' scheme, stands ruined and powerless after eight years due to panchayat neglect, stalled funds, and unresolved land ownership disputes.
An abandoned Kodakara pottery unit, built for one crore rupees under the 'Kumbhara Unnathi' scheme, stands ruined and powerless after eight years due to panchayat neglect, stalled funds, and unresolved land ownership disputes.
Kodakara: Eight years after its ceremonial inauguration, a pottery manufacturing unit established under the ‘Kumbhara Unnathi’ scheme remains completely abandoned, with expensive machinery left to waste away and rust. Members of the Kodakara Pottery Industrial Cooperative Society allege that the facility was opened purely for show, inaugurated before the machinery was even made operational.
Constructed at an outlay of ₹1 crore under the local panchayat's supervision, the project is reportedly riddled with defects. To this day, the building lacks secure exterior walls and a perimeter fence. A pug mill—installed at a cost of ₹25 lakh to grind and prepare clay—has never been run. Today, it stands on the brink of total ruin, engulfed by wild overgrowth and eaten away by rust.
The decay does not end there. A wall supporting the electrical meter board adjacent to the mill has collapsed. Three 1-HP motors purchased to run the potters' wheels were stolen; though a complaint was lodged with the Kodakara police, the investigation went nowhere. While a power connection was secured ahead of the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the facility was never actually put to work. Even so, fixed charges mounted until the outstanding bill crossed ₹55,000, prompting the power board to cut the supply. Cooperative members say that when they approached the then-panchayat secretary to clear the arrears, they were brushed off with an assurance that the dues would be settled promptly—a promise that was never kept.
The unit sits on a 38-cent plot owned by the cooperative society, which represents around 70 traditional artisans. Members allege that the panchayat is holding the project hostage, demanding joint ownership rights over the society’s land as a precondition for sanctioning any further funds to finish the stalled work. For years, these artisans have made the same desperate plea: that authorities put an end to the apathy, complete the pending work, and release the funds needed to keep their traditional craft alive.