Kozhikode: Folk songs once again reverberated in the 300-acre paddy land at Avala Pandi near Perambra on Sunday after a long gap of 25 years. As many as 5,000 CPM workers of Cheruvannur local committee forayed into the kole land to cleanse it with an ambitious plan of reviving paddy cultivation. The 1500-acre of Avala Pandi was known as the rice-bowl of Kozhikode but it lost significance as paddy cultivation was stalled two decades back.
"It is a big day for Avala Pandi and residents here," said T.K. Sashi, CPM Cheruvannur local secretary. The programme titled 'Ellarum Paadathek, Njaanum' was to support the Cheruvannur gram panchayat's project to revive agriculture on the weed-invaded land. As a prelude to this, water has been drained out from the entire area through rivulets using the machinery from Agriculture University. “In the first phase, organic cultivation would be initiated on the kole land. The sowing would start in October,” explained Cheruvannur gram panchayat president K.P Biju.
