Kharicut canal: Soil dumped for redevpt emptied out for water release

AHMEDABAD: The Kharicut Canal Development Project, worth Rs 1,200 crore, has encountered a hiccup. A few weeks before Cyclone Biparjoy was set to make landfall in Gujarat, the irrigation department warned that the canal needed to be emptied to release water brought by the storm.
This sent contractors, who had filled the canal with soil to facilitate the use of heavy machinery like cranes and construction materials, into a tizzy. They scrambled to remove 7,700 dumpers of earth before the storm hit.
The contractors, who had been dumping soil in the canal since they were awarded the work in October 2022, worked round the clock to clear the channel. They used bulldozers, excavators, and dump trucks to remove the earth.
The contract for the redevelopment work was issued in July 2022 in five packages totalling Rs 1,200 crore. Of this, Rs 600 crore is being allocated by the irrigation department, while the rest of the cost is borne by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).
The redevelopment work for the canal, covering 12,760m out of the total 22km length, from Naroda Crematorium to Vinzol began in October 2022. As part of the project, two 2.6m x 2.6m precast boxes and two 6m x 3.3m RCCstormwater boxes were to be laid in the middle of this stretch. The plan included laying a drainage pipeline as well as a 30m-wide road and streetlights to facilitate transportation.
The project is expected to be completed in 24 months. It is a crucial initiative for the region, providing irrigationwater for over 10,000 hectares.
A senior Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) official told TOI, “The road on either side of the canal was not wide enough to support machinery needed for the project. The contractors had to lay large amounts of soil inside the canal to support and install the machinery.But there was a condition within the contract that the construction companies would have to remove the earth and the machinery if the irrigation departm ent required them to do so for the release of excess flood water. Accordingly, contractors removed 7,700 truckfuls of soil and cleared the canal.”