The ambitious Phase II rejuvenation of the 13-km corridor of the Parvathy Puthanar from Akkulam to Panathura, as part of making the 633-km West Coast Canal (WCC), the main arterial waterway in the State, navigable, has begun.
The aim is to complete the ₹53.36-crore work by April or May and facilitate movement of vessels along the stretch, official sources told The Hindu. Already, 60 loads of waste that had been dumped on the 16.5-km stretch from Akkulam to Kovalam had been removed in six months at a cost of ₹42 lakh.
A high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here recently reviewed the work, gave the nod for the Phase II work and to seek Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) funding for it.
The deepening of the canal, along the two-km stretch from Karikkakom to Chakka to facilitate the movement of vessels and bank protection, has been taken up by the special purpose vehicle Kerala Waterways and Infrastructure Development Ltd. (KWIL).
A silt pusher brought from the Netherlands is being used by the KWIL for deepening the canal by one metre for safe movement of vessels.
As the water level in the canal is on the higher side, the work of deepening the canal using the silt pusher and pontoon had been suspended till the sand bar at Veli is cut in the third week of January.
The ₹1,330.27-lakh bank protection has begun in the corridor already. Labourers had been pressed into service to repair the pile and slab and the stone pitching above it as part of bank protection.
Lack of septic tanks
The KWIL has found that 680 houses located on the first line of the Parvathy Puthanar on the Karali-Travancore Mall-Thiruvallom stretch do not have septic tanks and the seweage from these houses reaches the canal.
The households that did not have septic tanks were identified using drone survey, sources said.
A ₹1.55-crore proposal had been worked out by Suchitwa Mission for providing 577 septic tanks to these households.
The city Corporation has been tasked to implement the project to keep the canal clean.
Three new bridges, including those at Vallakadavu and Puthenpalam, and reconstruction of all cross-structures with dimensions lower than 5-m horizontal clearance and 3.7-m vertical clearance will be taken up. Bridges have been proposed at Puthenpalam, Karikkakom, and Panathura.
The indigenously developed solar boats that can ferry 25 to 30 persons at a time will be launched on a pilot basis on the stretch.
The solar boat has been designed by the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat), sources said.
In the ₹53.36-crore Phase II, ₹55 lakh has been earmarked for cleaning; ₹582.61 lakh for dredging; ₹1.84 lakh for cutting; ₹1,330.27 lakh for bank protection; ₹1,470 lakh for cross structures; ₹112.50 lakh for sanitation facilities; ₹200 lakh for biogas and solid waste management; ₹155.62 lakh for septic tanks; ₹745.40 lakh for jetties; ₹17.02 lakh for navigational aids; ₹506 lakh for beautification of canals; and ₹160 lakh for boats.