Buy farm fresh veggies, pay what you want
The Hindu
Church-run boys’ hostel residents share the fruits of their labour on 4 acres of land
A shop ‘selling’ garden-fresh vegetables, without a cashier or anyone attending to the ‘buyers,’ has become the toast of Koonammavu, a small town at Kottuvally panchayat near Kochi. Opened about 75 days ago by the enterprising residents of the St. Joseph’s boys’ hostel in the town, the shop is actually not a shop, nor does it sell. The venue just displays fresh produce from a four-acre vegetable farm cultivated by the youngsters, says Father Sangeeth Joseph, who heads the hostel. The hostel is home to about 50 youngsters, aged between eight and 21, either from families of single parents or families that have split up, says Fr. Joseph from the Varappuzha archdiocese of the Catholic Church.The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.