Kerala police officers grow organic vegetables in confiscated vehicles
With a view to promote sustainability in their own way, police officers in Thrissur district have turned seized vehicles into beautiful gardens by growing vegetables in them.
The Kerala police has found an innovative way to utilise seized vehicles lying around the premises of their police station. With a view to promote sustainability in their own way, the officers in Cheruthuruthy in Thrissur district started growing organic vegetables in the cars and heavy automobiles.
According to The News Minute, Rangaraj, a civil police officer who also happens to be a farmer, took up the responsibility to cultivate the crops. Other officers - Simpson, Sudhakaran, Baby, Ranjit, Raghu and Anil also helped him in the process.
Image credit: English Mathrubhumi
“We had a few mini lorries that we had confiscated for sand and soil smuggling. Three months ago, we decided to cultivate vegetables in them. It was a successful attempt – we got our first harvest last week. We gave the vegetables to our police canteen,” says Simpson PT, a civil police officer from the station.
Since their hard work proved to be fruitful, the police officers broadened their scope of work and began sowing seeds in other vehicles too. So far, they have planted ladies’ finger, spinach and long beans.
Vehicles lying idle in police stations have become a common phenomenon in today’s times. While the police department generally has the approval to auction confiscated vehicles, there are a lot of legal hassles involved in the transactions, reports The Logical Indian.
“If a vehicle is seized for some illegal activity, its owners will never want to claim it, usually only the driver would be caught. In the case of accident vehicles, many times they are not taken back by owners even after a court order because they might have lost their loved ones in the accident and don't want to think about it. In other cases, it might take a few years to get a verdict. By then, the vehicle would have gathered rust and become useless, so nobody wants to take it back,” says one of the station house officer (SHO) from North Kerala.
(Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan)
Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan
