German dredging technology experts have offered support to the efforts for rejuvenation of the Kuttamperoor river, a tributary of the Pampa and the Achencoil, in Alappuzha.
A team of experts from a German company, Senwatec, made a study tour at Kuttamperoor in Budhanoor grama panchayat on Thursday to assess the possibility of extending help to the river-cleaning project.
The Budhanoor panchayat had drawn up an action plan in association with the government and non-governmental agencies such as the Pampa Parirakshana Samithy to remove silt and waste from the river. Weeds and waste materials, including plastics and food refuse, dumped in the river for over a decade hindered the natural flow, affecting the drinking water sources along the course of the river.
The tributary had played an effective role in natural flood control in the area. Excess water flowed into the Kuttamperoor river whenever the Pampa and the Achencoil were in spate, preventing the flooding of many places around the rivers.
A stretch of about 5 km of the river in the panchayat was cleaned up recently by making use of funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The rejuvenation project envisages revival of the flow of the river along a 12-km stretch. A project with an outlay of ₹3 crore had been submitted to the government, Budhanoor grama panchayat president P.Viswambhara Panicker told The Hindu .
The German team conducted a boat trip along the course of the river and took soil samples to evaluate the prospects of deploying the company’s amphibian dredgers for the river rejuvenation work. The company is expected to utilise its funds under the social responsibility initiative.
“The panchayat will not be in a position to buy the costly machines of the company. It will be for the government to decide on it. The panchayat will be thankful if the company takes up the work under its social responsibility initiative,” Mr. Panicker said.
The German team held talks with Water Resources Minister Mathew T.Thomas at Thiruvananthapuram later, he said.
