Signalling the start of efforts to make the Parvathy Puthanar navigable, fixing of boundaries of the canal commenced on Tuesday.
Surveying of the area coming under the Muttathara village has got under way with the identification of survey stones near the Ponnara bridge. The activities have been planned in accordance with the decisions adopted at a meeting convened by District Collector S. Venkatesapathy on Monday.
In six villages
According to G.K. Suresh Kumar, additional tahsildar, Thiruvananthapuram, the survey will be undertaken in Muttathara, Kadakampally, Pettah, Attipra, Menamkulam, and Veiloor villages. The fixing of boundaries will be undertaken along the 16-km stretch of the canal from Kovalam to Akkulam.
While the ‘puramboke’ land can be identified, the exercise will also enable authorities to detect encroachments on the canal.
While a deadline of November 30 has been set for the ongoing activity, the shortage of workers may make it impossible to meet the target.
Currently, only four surveyors have been deployed for the work.
The services of 15 surveyors and five helpers, divided into three teams, have been sought to ensure that the survey progressed at a decent pace simultaneously at multiple locations.
A meeting will be convened by Deputy Collector R. Raghupathy on November 23 to review the progress of the work.
The surveyors are faced with the daunting task of locating survey markers in areas coming under the Pettah, Muttathara, and Kadakampally villages using survey drawings that had been prepared several years ago, some as early as 1939.
Moreover, they have found it extremely difficult to utilise Electronic Total Stations in the preliminary stages of the work due to the uneven topography and presence of thick vegetation along the stretch.
To connect tourist spots
The proposed waterway, which is planned to be made an extension of the Kollam-Kottapuram National Waterway-3, will connect two important tourist centres — the Akkulam picnic spot and the Kovalam beach area.
The plan is to clean, dredge and make navigable the highly polluted canal for cruise operations from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport to Kovalam.
