THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As part of its effort to rejuvenate and maintain Parvathy Puthanar, the Kerala Waterways and Infrastructure Ltd (KWIL) - a Special Purpose Vehicle formed by the state government and Cochin International Airport Ltd, is gearing up to deploy a German machine to resolve the water weed menace.
Sources said that Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran will launch the imported German ‘Moving Boat’, which will clean up the man-made canal plagued with water weeds. A trial run is under way at Veli-Akkulam Lake.
“Our officials are being trained by two Germans to operate the manchine. A trial run was held on Wednesday and by next week we will launch in Parvathy Puthanar. The machinery has several accessories which can be used for various purposes including de-weeding, de-silting and cutting,” said a source.
Maintaining the canal and keeping it navigable have become a major challenge to the authorities because of waste dumping and waterweed menace.
According to sources, the comprehensive cleaning drive launched at the six-km stretch from Akkulam to Vallakadavu turned futile because of waste dumping.
“The canal needs regular clean-up and hence we have decided to procure this German machine. If the trial run is successful we would procure more which would be deployed at strategic points along Kovalam to Bekal coastal waterway,” said an official.