When the then Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar formally opened the 245-year-old Sultan Canal in 1999, it was expected to reopen an old inland navigation route from Neeleswaram in Kasaragod, extending about 70 km south, up to Valapattanam here.
The canal linked the Palakkode and Kuppam rivers in the district. The canal faced the prospect of becoming defunct soon. Boat services, operated for three years from 1999, had been suspended. The approach roads of the new bridge over the canal at Pazhayangadi were incomplete and the panchayat and local people had filled a small portion of the canal for making a temporary bund for vehicles and people to cross the canal. According to Inland Navigation Department officials here, the route was not navigable due to the bund will would remain there till the bridge is opened after the completion of the approach roads. The Public Works Department had taken up work on the approach roads.
Developed by Ali Raja of Arakkal House in 1766, the canal is believed to be the first known initiative to explore navigational potential inland water bodies.
The introduction of passenger boat services by the State Water Transport Department (SWTD) in the Kotti-Parassinikkadavu section following the restoration of the canal had raised hopes about the revival of inland navigation in the region. The boat services were suspended in October 2002 following a State government directive after the Kumarakom boat tragedy. The boat service was re-introduced, from Parassinikkadavu to Mattul, on August 6 as part of the United Democratic Front government's 100-day programme.
Officials of the SWTD regional office at Trikkarippur said the canal had beome shallow at many places. Walls of the 4-km canal had caved in at many places, they said adding that the feasibility of operating boat services would be considered if there was demand from the public.
The development of the canal would also boost tourism, sources said. The extension of this navigation route up to the south of Vadakara, through the proposed Mahe-Vadakara canal, would link it to the existing West Coast Canal. The navigation route through rivers and backwaters in Kannur and Kasaragod districts started from the Kariankode river that joined the Neeleswaram river and transformed into a backwater system (Kavvai backwaters).
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development had approved a proposal for the development of the canal in the Mahe-Vadakara stretch.
