Bekal-Kovalam waterway: Kerala launches economic survey

Inland waterway
Bekal- Kovalam waterway

Thiruvananthapuram: Work to prepare a master plan to construct a waterway connecting Bekal in Kasaragod district at the northern tip of Kerala and Kovalam in the southernmost district of Thiruvananthapuram has begun. As part of the proposed project, an economic survey has been launched.

The survey will be conducted on 13 stretches of the around 600-km-long waterway and initially, contract has been given for two stretches – from Akkulam in Thiruvananthapuram to Ashtamudi Lake in Kollam and from Mannattambara in Malappuram to Kallayi in Kozhikode.

Incidentally, the Kerala Government has launched the economic survey for a north-south waterway even as it is facing protests over the SilverLine – a semi-high speed railway corridor project connecting Kasaragod and Thiruvananthapuram.

Aims of survey

The survey intends to study what economic benefits the Rs 6,000-crore waterway project could bring to the state government. Apart from enabling public transportation, the government intends to set up an economic corridor along the waterway. Meanwhile, instructions have also been issued to focus on how revenue could be generated from tourism-related activities along the entire stretch.

After the survey report is submitted - which is expected in four months – the economic master plan will be prepared. As the deadline set to throw open the waterway is 2025, the agencies engaged in the survey have been asked to speed up their work by Kerala Waterways and Infrastructures Limited, a state government undertaking which is the implementing agency for the project.

Among the major purposes of the survey are identifying suitable locations to set up tourism amenity centres, boat terminals and inland water ports. Presently, the only inland port on the proposed waterway is situated in Kottayam.

Expenses involved

Meanwhile, the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) has already cleared works amounting to Rs 1,163.03 crore related to the waterway project. KIIFB is also considering proposals for Rs 1,000 crore to develop the canals in Kozhikode and Rs 183 crore to clear the Parvathy Puthanar canal in Thiruvananthapuram.

The most expensive stretches on the waterway are the canals in Kozhikode, Mahe-Valapattanam and Nileswaram-Bekal. As many as 23 bridges have to be rebuilt in Kozhikode. Six new tunnels may have to be built along the Mahe-Valapattanam stretch to change the alignment of the waterway considering the objections raised by Puducherry government which governs Mahe, leading to the cost escalation. Similarly, a 6.5-km new canal has to be constructed on the Nileswaram-Bekal stretch.

 

 

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