An action plan will be formed for deepening the Vellayani freshwater lake as a continuation of the lake clean-up project launched in May, Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said on Wednesday.
The Minister was addressing a review meeting on the project undertaken by voluntary organisations under the leadership of Swasthi Foundation with support from the State government and local self government institutions.
The Minister instructed the Irrigation Department to prepare a project for deepening the lake with the help of the Government Engineering College, Barton Hill. The project will be placed before the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).
Sedimentation caused by the mid-August floods of 2018 have considerably reduced the natural depth of the lake. The clean-up project in Vellayani, which is also the second biggest freshwater lake in the State, had been kicked off at the Vavvamoola bund region on May 28.
Initially, the plan was to complete the work in 75 days, but the Swasthi Foundation has informed the Minister that it would take at least 200 days to remove the water hyacinths and wastes clogging the lake. So far, 300 loads of water weeds have been removed using an aquatic weed harvester.
To prevent the ingress of water weeds into the cleaned up portions of the lake, the Irrigation Department and the panchayats in the Vellayani region have been instructed to construct bunds. “Jana Jagratha Samithis’ with 60 families each as members will be formed for sustainable conservation of the lake.
Mr Surendran said that the plan was to convert the lake into a major tourist attraction.
The Sub Collector, Thiruvananthapuram, will monitor the clean-up project.