Kochi, Saturday 19 December 2009: Fisheries and Registration Minister S. Sarma has urged the public to review the functioning of the monitoring committees constituted as per the provisions in the Kerala Paddy field and Wetland Conservation Act.

Delivering the inaugural address at the seminar on ‘Conservation of paddy lands and wetlands in Kerala: the socio-legal perspectives’ organised by the School of Legal Studies at Cochin University of Science and Technology on Friday, Sarma said that lack of public vigil against the land mafia involved in clearing paddy fields would affect the food security and environment of the State.

The objective of the monitoring committee, consisting of members of the local bodies and other stakeholders, is to check the rampant filling up of paddy fields and clearing of wetlands for various purposes.
Capitalist forces have turned land in to a saleable item, the Minister said. The rapid dwindling of paddy fields and wetlands had drastically affected the food security status.

Explaining that the State required 30 lakh tonnes of rice a year, Sarma said that the domestic production, according to the 2006 figures, was only six lakh tonnes. According to the latest estimates, the production had shot up to eight lakh tonnes.

Even though the production had gone up by 2 lakh tonnes, the requirement was still remaining huge, he said. The Minister said that only two lakh hectares of paddy fields was available in the State for cultivation.