THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An amount of Rs 4.30 crore released by the Ministry of Environment and Forest way back in 2006 for the restoration and conservation of Veli-Akkulam lake has been lying unspent.
But now the money is trying its luck a third time for implementation and the funds will be hopefully utilised for laying sewer lines along the banks of the Parvathy Puthanar intended for its modification, preservation and conservation.
The first project got dropped when the plan for constructing a sewage-treatment plant was on the cards for managing the sewage of the City Corporation area, which later came up in Muttathara.
The works expected to take place under that project included construction of two Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) of 12 mld and 13 mld capacities at Ulloor and Valiyathura respectively. In 2006, the project was allotted to Tourism Department with KSUDP as the implementing agency.
In 2013, the same amount got transferred to the Kerala Water Authority with an intention to set up a sewage treatment plant at Akkulam. “The project was not carried forward due to space constraints in establishing a plant in the area. And the plant at Muttathara had enough capacity to manage the waste in Paravathy Puthanar too.
So in this latest project, through the sewer lines, the effluents in the river can be carried to a pump house and managed at Muttathara,” said the JNNURM project-coordinator of Kerala Water Authority, Project Implementation Unit.
Ahead of laying the sewer lines, a detailed topographic survey is to be carried out along the banks of the Parvathy Puthanar from Moonnattumukku Junction to Vallakadavu at a length of around 3.5 kilometres.
This includes longitudinal survey through sides of streams, roads and so on. It is on completion of the survey that the Detailed Project Report (DPR) would be prepared.
In August 2005, under the National River Conservation Plan (NRCP), an amount of Rs 24.56 crore was set aside for the restoration and conservation of Veli-Akkulam lake which drew flak for not achieving the objectives in the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) first-ever performance audit on water pollution in India.