Thiruvananthapuram: The work on the 160 km stretch of the National Waterway 3 (NW3) in Kerala will commence only after the Detailed Project Report (DPR) to be prepared by the National Waterways Authority gets the Central Government nod, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan stated.
The total distance of the National Waterway between Kollam and Kozhikode is 328 km. Of this stretch, 168 km from Kollam to Kottappuram has been completed, the Chief Minister said in a Facebook post.
Kottappuram is in Kodungallur in Thrissur district.
Rehabilitation plan
Those parts of the waterways that do not form the part of the National Waterways are being considered as the State Waterways, the CM added.
Under this project, the width of the waterway from Kovalam to Akkulam in Thiruvananthapuram district will be increased. The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) has sanctioned Rs 66.39 crore for this purpose.
The KIIFB has also sanctioned Rs 247.2 crore for rehabilitating 1,275 families when the canal width is being expanded from Kovalam to Varkala. The State Government will either construct apartments for such families being rehabilitated or if they want to have a house, they will be provided with Rs 10 lakh for purchasing land and building a house.
Conolly Canal
Pinarayi said that the KIIFB has also given in-principle approval for the project to develop the Conolly Canal passing through Kozhikode city, to the level of a waterway at a cost of Rs 1,118 crore.
The KIIFB has also sanctioned Rs 839 crore for acquiring land along 26.5 km in the Mahe-Valapattanam stretch and 6.5 km in the Nileswaram-Bekal stretch.
With the completion of the waterway project, a low-cost and environment-friendly travel system will emerge, the Chief Minister added.
