Opening the filled-up portion and setting up a lifting bridge at Panathura or constructing a new road bridge at Vazhamuttom and opening the filled-up location with a footbridge has been recommended to overcome the 160-metre missing link of Parvathy Puthanar at Panathura.
The two options have been favoured by a 10-member technical committee headed by Chief Scientist and former Director of Natpac B. G. Sreedevi and comprising officials from Natpac, Coastal Shipping and Inland Navigation Department (CSIND) and consultant of the Kerala Waterways Infrastructure Limited (KWIL).
Technical aspects
The committee was tasked by the District Collector to look into the technical aspects of opening up the canal, including the vulnerability of the location to sea erosion, selection of best location for constructing bridge and study alternative options, if any.
The restoration of the canal connectivity is being taken up as part of rejuvenating the 18.5-km stretch of the waterway from Kovalam to Akkulam that includes the Parvathy Puthanar. The work is part of the ambitious ₹2,300-crore project to make the 633-km West Coast Canal (WCC), the main arterial waterway, navigable.
The KWIL, which has commenced the work on the 18.5- km corridor to make the WCC from Kovalam to Kasaragod navigable by May 2020 with National Waterway specifications, found the canal near Panathura completely filled for about 160 metres near the temple.
Sea wall was constructed to protect the eroded coast from Kovalam to Poonthura. A road was laid along the filled-up portion of the canal and was used to transport stone for sea wall construction and it is the only access for 1,000 inhabitants of Panathura residing in 190 houses, other than the ferry services and footbridge.
Bridge
The filled- up land is being used for various activities, including the temple festival. The opening of canal would necessitate construction of a bridge for ensuring the connectivity of inhabitants to the outer area. The inhabitants were not ready to accept any change and raised apprehension that the filled-up portion is prone to sea attack and its opening will not be a wise decision.
Instead, the locals suggested an alternate alignment for the canal of 270 metres from the present filled up location which necessitates land acquisition of six acres.
