Installed to stop waste dumping, Paravur canal fences now buried under wild growth

Paravur: Metal fences that were installed to prevent waste dumping in the Maniyamkulam Canal are now completely overgrown with wild vegetation. These fences, designed to stand 3 metres high and tilt 50 centimetres inwards, were put in place over a 2-kilometer stretch from Kuttoor Bridge on the Paravur-Tekkumbhagam road to Maniyamkulam Bridge.

The Inland Water Transport Department undertook this project at a cost of ₹60 lakh. In 2019, the Maniyamkulam Canal was cleaned under the initiative of the Paravur Municipality.

The Maniyamkulam Canal is part of the Thiruvananthapuram-Bekal National Waterway, which the state government aimed to make navigable. In previous years, creepers and trees that had spread over the metal fences were cleared by the Inland Water Transport Department. However, with the fences now thoroughly choked with vegetation, waste is once again being dumped under their cover. The area is also severely affected by a growing menace of reptiles.

Maniyamkulam Canal was built in 1842
The Maniyamkulam Canal, which links the Edava-Nadayara Lake with the Paravur Lake, was constructed in 1824 during the reign of Queen Gowri Parvathi Bayi. Before its designation as part of the Thiruvananthapuram-Bekal National Waterway, it served as a vital water route to connect Thiruvananthapuram, Chirayinkeezhu, and Varkala to the Kollam-Kottappuram National Waterway (West Coast Canal).

Through the Varkala Canal, one could reach Edava-Nadayara Lake, proceed through the Maniyamkulam Canal to enter Paravur Lake, and then continue via the Kollam Canal to Ashtamudi Lake.