Amballur grama panchayat has installed a bottle booth beside the Virippachal paddy fields at Thottarappuncha in Kanjiramattom after discarded liquor bottles caused repeated injuries to people working in the fields.
The glass bottles were allegedly being thrown into the paddy fields after people consumed alcohol. When the bottles broke, farmers and other workers encountered shards while working in the fields, leading to recurring cuts and injuries.
The bottle booth has been placed at the entrance to the motor shed serving the paddy fields. The intervention followed a report published by Mathrubhumi on Wednesday about the injuries caused by broken bottles being thrown into the agricultural area.
The report prompted residents and local stakeholders to organise efforts to protect the Virippachal paddy fields. Amballur grama panchayat member Hameed Kutty led the arrangement of the bottle booth, while office-bearers of the paddy-field committee installed it under the leadership of its president, Ashok Kumar Kollamthadathil.
Farmers have appealed to people not to throw glass bottles or plastic waste into the fields. They have also asked nearby residents to discourage anyone seen throwing bottles into the paddy area and help direct the waste to the booth instead.
The move places a basic waste-disposal facility at the point where bottles were being discarded, while also relying on residents and visitors to use it. The panchayat and the paddy-field committee have not announced any further collection or enforcement measures in the report.
