THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As many as 1,275 families residing on the banks of the Kovalam-Varkala waterway would be rehabilitated soon with KIIFB (Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board) sanctioning Rs 247.2 crore for the purpose. The state government is planning to rehabilitate the families that will be displaced to facilitate the development of the canal under the ‘Punargeham’ scheme of the fisheries department.
Being one of the top-priority projects of the state government, efforts are on a war footing to develop the water body and integrate it with the 633km West Coast Canal — the main arterial waterway which traverses through 11 districts. The project is expected to give a major boost to backwater tourism and aid the smooth movement of cargo.
KIIFB has already sanctioned Rs 150 crore for the canal project, which is being jointly implemented by the Coastal Shipping and Inland Navigation Department and Kerala Waterways Infrastructure Limited (KWIL) — a special purpose vehicle (SPV) of Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) and the state government.
According to KWIL officials, the rehabilitation project would be implemented by the fisheries department. “The project will be launched soon. The department would be launching a survey to screen the beneficiaries of the project,” said KWIL chief engineer Suresh Kumar. He said Phase II and Phase III of the project can be kicked off only after the completion of rehabilitation.
“We are aiming to complete it within six months. But it’s a complicated procedure and might require more time. The government would give Rs 10 lakh to each beneficiary to buy land and construct a home as part of the scheme,” said Suresh Kumar. The plan is to complete the project by March 2025. The fisheries department is recruiting eight project coordinators and 27 project motivators temporarily to implement the rehabilitation plan for the families residing on both sides of the canal as part of the development of Kovalam-Bekal Inland Waterway.
According to officials, the majority of encroachments falls in the 16.4km Parvathy Puthanar stretching from Akkulam to Kovalam. According to officials, there are around 1,500 illegal constructions including 803 houses along Parvathy Puthanar which need to be knocked down to facilitate the project.
The plan is to widen the canal to 25 metres with a five-metre-wide service road on either side complying with the specifications of the Inland Waterways Authority of India. An official of the Coastal Shipping and Inland Navigation Department told TNIE that the laying of boundary stones along Parvathy Puthanar has almost been completed. As many as 1,000 boundary stones have been laid to demarcate the boundaries.
“Once the boundary stones are laid, we will submit the sketch to the revenue authorities. A joint inspection would be carried out. Once it is done, the revenue authorities would initiate land acquisition procedures,” said the official.
Several locations have been identified to rehabilitate the families. “As many as 803 families living on the banks of Parvathy Puthanar require rehabilitation. We have carried out site visits and submitted the identified sites to the state government for approval,” said an official. Some of the sites identified for the rehabilitation are the land at Vallakadavu behind the airport, Akkulam, Oruvathilkotta, Kadinamkulam and Thrippadapuram.
Gaining steam
Rs 247.2 cr sanctioned by KIFFB for rehabilitating families
Rs 150 crore was already sanctioned for the project
Rs 10 lakh to be given for each family
1,275 families need to be rehabilitated
1,500
illegal constructions will be knocked down
803
houses need to be knocked down to facilitate the project
16.4km
Parvathy Puthanar stretch has the majority of majority of encroachments
In a nutshell
633km