THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After several years of delay, the ambitious Akkulam rejuvenation project, which aims to restore the lost glory of the lake, is finally becoming a reality with the cabinet giving nod to the revised estimate for the project which has been pending for a long time.
Wapcos Ltd, the special purpose vehicle roped in by the tourism department for executing the project - which aims to improve water quality and rejuvenate the lake by removing encroachment on its banks- had submitted the revised estimate to the state government. KIIFB has sanctioned `64.13-crore for the rejuvenation project and it needed `32 crore more for completion. According to sources, the bidder had demanded around `125 crore initially for executing the project, which is 100 per cent more than the estimated cost.
The project had come to a standstill as the new estimate required cabinet approval. “After negotiations we finalised the estimate at `96 crore. However, KIIFB couldn’t approve the escalation cost which is beyond 10%. Hence we had to wait for the cabinet approval which came on Wednesday,” said an official associated with the project.
However, encroachment of the lake is a major issue. Civic authorities and the district administration are turning a blind eye towards the blatant violation of CRZ norms happening around the lake. According to studies, the area of the lake has come down by 31.06 per cent since 1942 and by 9.86 per cent in the past five years. As per the resurvey carried out a few years ago, the lake had an area of 64 hectares. Though the district administration has been directed to acquire around 26 acres to reinstate the lake, land acquisition procedures are yet to begin. In the past years, successive governments had spent huge amounts to rejuvenate the lake but it failed to yield any results.
The tourism department came up with a comprehensive plan to restore the lake in 2018, but the project didn’t take off owing to cost escalation. In the wake of corruption allegations raised against previous rejuvenation projects, this time the tourism department has adopted the design - build- operate- transfer model for the revamp plan.According to officials, the project will exclusively focus on water treatment using green technologies. Hence WAPCOS Ltd has invited international competitive bidding to find appropriate bidders with experience in eco-restoration of lakes.
“The bidder will be managing the lake for a period of 15 years. The first phase of the project will be implemented within a period of two years,” said an official. The detailed project report was prepared by the Transitional Research and Professional Leadership Centre under Government Barton Hill Engineering College. The centre has proposed many natural treatment techniques to reduce pollution in the lake.