A stretch of the Edappally canal. A stretch of the Edappally canal. KMRL had recommended widening of major canals to a minimum width of 16.50 metres.
| Photo Credit: R.K. Nithin
The identification and removal of encroachers from beside waterbodies as part of the ₹3,853-crore Integrated Urban Regeneration and Water Transport System (IURWTS) project to rejuvenate a total of six once-navigable canals in and around the city and to set up a pair of sewage treatment plants (STPs) are set to gain momentum in the coming weeks, thanks to the Revenue department deploying a new team for the purpose.
This is expected to belatedly revive the project that ran into rough weather due to inordinate delay in clearing encroachments and issues posed due to seaweeds and the continual dumping of garbage and sewerage into the canals. Even as the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) increased the project’s outlay from the initial ₹1,528 crore to ₹3,853 crore in November 2023, stakeholders had been sceptical of its implementation owing to the inadequate allocation of Revenue personnel.
With more personnel being deployed, laying of stones and allied works are expected to pick up steam, said sources in Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) which is implementing the project.
District Collector N.S.K. Umesh said a total of 20 surveyors had been deployed to identify ‘puramboke’ land, which would in turn shed light on the extent of encroachments on the canals. This work is expected to be completed by the end of October, following which the land-acquisition process could be executed in another year, he added.
The clamour to rejuvenate the canals gained momentum post the severe flooding of roads during May in and around Edappally where NH 66 and NH 544 converged, inundating neighbourhoods and resulting in thousands of commuters getting stranded in the two highway corridors. “This could have been averted had the Edappally canal been dredged during the summer months and encroachers along the waterbody removed in a time-bound manner,” informed sources said.
KMRL had recommended the widening of major canals to a minimum width of 16.50 metres, their dredging to clear plastic and other waste, and also the construction of walkways with a minimum width of two metres on both sides to rejuvenate the canals, to make them navigable wherever possible and to prevent further encroachments. For this, a total of 42 hectares in the possession of private parties were to be acquired to widen four key canals — Edappally canal, Perandoor canal, Chilavannur canal (including Changadampokku Thodu and Karanakodam Thodu), and Thevara canal.
As per an assessment, only 70% of the 11-km-long Edappally canal has average width of 16.50 metres. The canal’s width began to decrease north of Edappally Junction, all the way up to Muttar, mainly due to encroachments. Similarly, encroachments abound on the other canals as well, the sources said.
