A high-level meeting convened by Water Resources Minister K. Krishnankutty on Thursday decided to invite the expression of interest (EoI) for deepening the leading channel of the Thottappally spillway to ensure the smooth flow of water from the Kuttanad region.
The meeting, held in Thiruvananthapuram, directed the Social Forestry wing of the Forest Department to immediately cut down trees at the Thottappally estuary. It decided to go ahead with the planned removal of mineral-rich sand from the estuary, in a bid to prevent flooding in Kuttanad.
The Irrigation Department will sell the sand either to the Indian Rare Earths (IRE) or Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd. (KMML), said an official.
Further, the meeting decided to prepare a detailed project report for developing two canals running parallel to the leading channel. The IIT, Madras, has been entrusted with the task of carrying out a study on the possibility of constructing a breakwater south of the estuary to prevent sand from depositing in the area.
With regard to the Thanneermukkom bund, it decided to demolish the earthen embankment in the middle of the backwaters, a prerequisite for commissioning the third phase of the bund, by June 1.
The removal of the embankment is caught in a legal tussle between various stakeholders.
Although a portion of the earthen bund was removed last year, a claim made by the Thanneermukkom grama panchayat for over 1.5 lakh cubic metres of earth to be removed resulted in a stand-off among the local body, the Irrigation Department and the contractor entrusted with the demolition.
The meeting directed the District Collector to intervene in the matter and find a suitable solution to the issue.
Third phase
The third phase of construction, which commenced in September 2014, will replace the embankment in the middle by 28 steel shutters.
The Thanneermukkom bund across Vembanad Lake, proposed to keep water balance and prevent intrusion of salt water into Kuttanad, was designed by the Central Water and Power Research Station in 1956.
Public Works Minister G. Sudhakaran, Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac, Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar, Food and Civil Supplies Minister P. Thilothaman, Thomas Chandy, MLA, and other officials attended the meeting.
