Pothencode Panchayat to revive its coir industry in Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram, June 23 (KNN) The Pothencode block Panchayat has devised an action plan to revive its coir industry and keep its old tradition alive.

The project has been named as “the music of Ratt”.The name takes inspiration from the ‘Ratt machine’ that plays an important role in separating the fibre from the coconut husk.

The budget for the first phase of the project is Rs 25 lakh.

The coir made through this project will be marketed through cooperative societies.

The raw material will be made available to the workers in Kadinamkulam, Azhoor, Mangalapuram and Andoorkonam grama panchayats.

The Number of working days will be increased and the coir workers will be provided with the raw materials worth Rs 30,000 in the first phase of the project. The coconut husks will be directly distributed to a three-member team through Coir Fed.

Pothencode block panchayat president Hariprasad T R said that “Pothencode is the only grama panchayat which is not practising the traditional industrial coir making and most of the people in the other four panchayats still depend on the industry.”

“By increasing the number of working days, we will be able to give a regular income to the workers and the production will also increase. We are planning to extend the project after learnings from the first phase. Through this project, we will be able to keep traditional coir making alive,” he added.

A total of 250 workers will benefit from this scheme.  (KNN Bureau)