THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as the district administration promised to finish the first phase revamping of Parvathy Puthanar including its cleaning work two months ago, the authorities are dragging its feet on the project. The work has been slowed down owing to uncertainty of land acquisition on both sides of the canal which have been encroached. Though the cleaning of the canal is in progress using slit pusher and shredders, the work of the two km stretch from Vallakadavu to Karikkakom is moving at a snail’s pace.
The authorities said the first phase of the cleaning will be completed within two months time.
“We are in the process of acquiring more land for the project. The government has to take a decision on removing the encroachments. Since these encroachments are a decade old, we can’t remove it overnight. However, we are going ahead with the cleaning work despite the hurdles. Discussions are on with the Kerala Waterways and Infrastructures Ltd (KWIL) to begin the second phase of the project,” V R Vinod, additional district magistrate.
KWIL an SPV formed by the state government and the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL), has been entrusted with the development of the canal to make it navigable at a cost of Rs 150 crore. As per the proposal, the 18.50 km Kovalam-Akkulam Lake stretch is being developed in the first phase and made navigable with minimum land acquisition.
According to top officers of KWIL, efforts were on to remove the weeds and debris for reinstating the water flow. Cleaning machines and shredders have been brought here to remove the weeds and pollutants. Slit pusher, imported from Holland, has also been brought for cleaning purpose.
In the second phase, the two tunnels at Varkala will be cleaned so as to ensure free flow of water from Kovalam to Kollam. The officials added that a three-phase development of Parvathi Puthanar is being planned and that work - including cleaning of the canal and rehabilitating people living on its banks - will be undertaken in a time-bound manner.
As per the action plan, boat jetties and tourism villages will be set up at selected places on the two sides of the canal from Kovalam to Kollam in the second phase of the project.The approximate length of the state’s inland waterways fit for navigation is 1,680 km. It includes the 590 km of the West Coast Canal from Neeleswaram in the north to Kovalam in the south.
Rehabilitation
The biggest challenge for the authorities is to rehabilitate around 1,500 families who have encroached upon the canal and constructed houses. As per government plan, the residents will be rehabilitated under LIFE Mission. However, the survey which is being carried out by the Revenue Department has not yet been completed. The Kovalam-Kollam stretch will form part of the larger National Waterway dream that envisages a water route linking Kovalam in the south with Neeleswaram, Kasargod, in the north. The Parvathy Puthanar was developed during the Travancore days with the intention of linking the capital to Kollam via Kadinamkulam lake, Vamanapuram river, Ashtamudi lake and further north to Kochi. The man-made canal was created in the 18th and 19th centuries as a water route linking Thiruvananthapuram to Kollam and beyond for trading purposes.