THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Giving fresh hopes to fishermen, the harbour engineering department has brought in a dredger from Azheekal to Muthalapozhi.
The Muthalapozhi harbour was shut down because of the accumulation of sand, hampering fishing activities. Plan is to expand harbour mouth to a width of 13m and a depth of 3m to ensure movement of large fishing vessels during the monsoon. The state government has decided to rope in Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd (KMML) to cart away the dredged out sand from the estuary.
On Friday, the harbour engineering department cut open the sandbar at the estuary to address the flooding issues faced by low-lying panchayats in the area. An official of the harbour engineering department said the dredger is anchored in the sea because of rough weather and will be brought to the harbour on Sunday.
“The weather is adverse and our attempts to bring the dredger failed. Tomorrow, after 10am, we will try to bring it in when the tide is favourable. It will take two or three days to assemble the machinery and start the dredging activities. We are hoping to begin the work from next week and complete it by May 15,” said the official.
The official said the department is yet to enter into an agreement with KMML. “The matter is with the finance department and they have to fix the rate. KMML has asked around Rs 60 per metre cube. The government will have to issue an order after fixing the rate,” said the official.
The department has mobilised more machinery to expedite the work and as per the current plan, the 10-hour working schedule will be raised to 20 hours.