What was envisaged as a vital irrigation project with a network of canals connecting every possible area under cultivation across this district is in a state of suspended animation.
The Pazhassi Irrigation Project (PIP) has been dormant as an irrigation project for all intents and purposes, but it has not yet been declared a failed project to be decommissioned.
The PIP that was partially commissioned in 1979 by then Prime Minister Morarji Desai is now viewed as a major source of drinking water in the district.
Main water source
The reservoir of the project originally meant to regulate water in the Valapattanam river is now Kerala Water Authority’s main source of water for supply through its pipeline.
The main objective of the project, however, was to stablise the second crop of paddy in the district.
The canal network of the project has borne the brunt of the lack of maintenance and proper management. Canal stretches in many parts are either in a ruined state or are facing encroachment threats.
From January to June this year, the reservoir had water at the full reservoir level, but water could not be released for irrigation because of the breach in the canal system caused by the 2012 flooding. Lack of periodical maintenance has also increased seepage in the canal network. A major problem facing the project is encroachment in areas it has acquired for the canal systems and for buffer zones.
“This project is a very important water resource in the district and it can be revived for the benefit of the people,” said project Executive Engineer S. Saju.
When asked, he told The Hindu , that paucity of funds and shortage of staff are an obstacle to the project’s revival. At present, Rs. 7 crore works
for strengthening the dam under the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) are under way, he added.
The irrigation potential of the PIP cannot be under-estimated, according to the PIP engineers who cite a 2010 study by the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management, Kozhikode, commissioned by the State Planning Board. They said that the study’s finding is that 2,600 cubic millimetre of the total 3,500 cubic millimetre water discharged in the sea by the Valapattanam river a year could be utilised for irrigation and drinking water supply.
“The project should be developed into multi-linked project covering irrigation, drinking water supply, roads and tourism,” said P.P. Babu of the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP) who was involved in a study on the Pazhassi project.
Encroached
He said that the KSSP study two years ago had found that 40 per cent of the network of small canals were encroached and many of the aqueducts are dilapidated.
“The KSSP is not in favour of winding up the project,” he said adding that even the seepage of water in canals could help groundwater recharge through percolation.
510-km canal network
Envisaged to irrigate 11,525 ha in 55 villages
Full reservoir level 26.52 m
Maximum water level 27.52 m
