KOCHI: With just a couple of days left for the onset of monsoon, the residents of Kannamaly in Chellanam panchayat have kept their belongings packed preparing to leave their houses any time. Every year tidal waves batter the coastal village razing down houses and destroying valuables, forcing coastal residents to flee. A majority of the residents shift to the houses of their relatives while others take refuge at relief camps.
Though the Pinarayi government had provided administrative sanction for the construction of a 6.1 km long tetrapod seawall from Puthenthodu to Manassery, the project can commence only after obtaining technical and financial sanction.
The second phase of the seawall project is set to be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 404 crore with funding from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).
A source with the Kerala Irrigation Infrastructure Development Corporation told TNIE that the work has been allocated to the Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society (ULCCS) and that preliminary works have begun. The design for the project was discussed by the technical committee and will be sanctioned soon.
The completion of the 7.36-km first phase from Chellanam fishing harbour to Puthenthodu has helped save the residents from sea incursions, but for areas from Kannamaly to Fort Kochi, the intensity of tidal waves have now been deflected to the areas without the seawall.
“Former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had inaugurated the second phase of the seawall, but we have no information about the project. We haven’t received any document from the government in this regard.
The panchayat has sanctioned Rs 1.38 crore for laying geotextile tubes to check tidal incursion. The works to repair temporary seawalls from ward 4 to 10 of the panchayat are in progress,” said Chellanam panchayat president Jessy Augustine.
V T Sebastian, a local resident, said the intensity of the tidal waves will be high this season as the Cochin Port Authority has begun works to increase the depth of the shipping channel to 18m. As the depth increases, the intensity of the waves also go up,” he said.
Chellanam seawall project
Phase 1
From Chellanam fishing
harbour to Puthenthodu
Completed in January 2025
Cost: Rs 344.2 crore
Length: 7.36 km
Funding: KIIFB
Height of seawall: 3m
Width of walkway: 2.5m
6 groynes, spaced 150m apart
Features: Tetrapods on seaward side, boulders on landward side, walkway on top, steps at 16 locations to access walkway
Phase-II
Administrative sanction
granted on January 21, 2026
Length: 6.1km
From Puthenthodu to Manassery
Estimate: Rs 404 crore
Phase-III
Length: 2.4km
From Manassery to Fort Kochi
(To be taken up later)