Thiruvananthapuram: The water resources department is likely to extend the timeline for the completion of the desilting work of the Amayizhanjan canal, being implemented at a cost of Rs 25 crore. Three years after the government gave sanction for the project, the work has not made much headway owing to a host of issues. The officials said that a major part of the work; laying of sewage lines, has to be done by the Kerala Water Authority (KWA), for which land could not be handed over to the contractor.
There are encroachments on the site where sewage lines need to be laid, and the authorities have not been able to make considerable progress in evicting people from the site. Minister of water resources Roshy Augustine recently told the assembly that the contractor had difficulty finding labourers due to the canal’s poor condition, and that work had to be halted several times. According to the minister, the work was also hampered by the time required to relocate electric poles.
The work was awarded to the contractor with a timeline of eight months, which ended in April 2022. Later, the timeline was extended to December 2022. The department received a request from the contractor in January for a further extension of the timeline. Officials with the Irrigation department now claim that the work will be completed by April 2023.
Kannamoola ward councillor Saranya SS said that one of the houses in Kannamoola that has been identified as being located on encroached land will be demolished, and the residents will be rehabilitated under the housing scheme project being implemented at Kannamoola.
The water resources department had earlier given sanction to award the work based on a single tender that was 36% higher than the estimated project cost. The decision was made to award the work on a single tender after there were no other takers despite repeated calls. The government had given administrative sanction for the work of desilting and reconstruction of the side walls of the Amayizhanjan canal from Kannamoola to Akkulam for an amount of Rs 25 crore in March 2019. The sanction was given based on the proposal submitted by the chief engineer (Irrigation and administration).
The work includes KWA sewerage line connection, side protection works, the purchase of a silt pusher, its operation and maintenance, dredging and conveyance of silt to the disposal site, all allied machines for dredging, laying boundary stones for demarcating the boundary, and unforeseen expenses. A major share of the cost has been allocated for sewerage line connection; Rs 10.78 crore. Side protection works will be done at a cost of Rs 6.57 crore, while silt pushers will be purchased at a cost of Rs 3 crore. Unforeseen expenses have been estimated at Rs 5 lakh.
The desiltation of the canal from Kannamoola to Akkulam was conceived as a major step to combat flooding in the city.
