Many of the city’s stormwater management projects are expected to get a boost with the completion of the proposed dredging work, recently approved by the Ministry of Water Resources, covering nearly five-kilometre stretch of the Kallayi river. The Irrigation Department will carry out the dredging works. The department will submit a revised estimate for obtaining speedy technical sanction for the project.
For many years, various local action committees have been waiting for the project, which was considered the best option to meet the increasing stormwater management challenges. Officials with the Town Planning Department hope that the dredging work will increase the flow of the river and its capacity to carry stormwater during rainy seasons.
An official with the Irrigation Department said the proposal for dredging between Kaduppini and Kothi stretch was submitted several years ago to the government for approval. “One of the main issues was the discarding of dredged silt from the area. Citing environmental issues, dumping it deep inside the sea had been opposed by many people,” he pointed out.
Based on the latest plan, dredged sediments will be converted as raw material for the production of building materials including bricks and sand. The other left out materials will be used for land-filling requirements in the city.
Fund allotted
To carry out the work, the city corporation has already given administrative sanction for ₹7.50 crore. The remaining fund, if required, will be allotted later. Following a directive from Minister for Water resources Roshy Augustine, the Superintending Engineer of the Irrigation Department will supervise the work.
Officials with the city corporation said there was also a meeting recently to discuss the project details in the presence of Public Works Minister Mohamed Riyas, Thottathil Raveendran, MLA, and corporation officials. Ahead of that, a team of people’s representatives led by Kozhikode Mayor Beena Philip had met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan with a list of demands, including approval for a major stormwater management project.
It was in 2018 that a small dredging work was completed near the Kothi estuary side to clear a huge deposit of silt which even interrupted the movement of fishing boats through the area. The cost of the work was then about ₹7 crore. According to local fish workers, the work was executed after waiting for more than eight years. Several boats had been damaged after hitting the pile of silt near the estuary, they said.
Members of the Kallayi River Protection Committee said the removal of excess silt was the basic requirement to conserve the river and retain its natural flow. Water flow in Canolly canal, which is directly connected to all major stormwater management projects, could be regained only by completing the proposed dredging work in the river, they said.
