Introduction
Historic Parvathi
Puthanar canal that was witness to many events happening on its banks that
changed the destiny of the erstwhile princely state of Travancore is lying in
shambles, totally infested with wild shrubs and weeds, and the wastes put in by
people living near its banks. Over the years,
the people have neglected it, and it has become non-navigable and its water
unusable. If we now walk by its banks, we get the stench smell. This is the
current state of this historic canal that was once the waterway for the
goods transportation from far off cities to the capital city of the erstwhile
Travancore dynasty. Through the years of
neglect, the depths of the canal at several places has much become reduced due
to the accumulation of filth from around 750 houses situated on its banks.
After such a long period of neglect, the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation has
taken steps to clean up the canal to make it navigable. In this blog post, we
will be looking at the steps taken by the civic body of the city to restore the
historic Parvathy Puthanar canal to its past glory.
Survey to
Fix the Boundary of the Canal
In order
to restore the historic canal, the surveying of the area under the Muttathara village
has started. As part of this exercise, the authorities are trying to find
survey stones under the Ponnara Bridge. In the second phase, the six villages
such as Muttathara, Pettah, Kadakampally, Menamkularm, Attipra and Velloor will
also come under the survey for the same purpose. Based on this exercise, the authorities
will fix the boundaries of the dilapidated canal along the 16 kilometre
stretch. The 16 kilometre stretch of the canal links Kovalam with Akkulam. The survey will also be used to find the
‘puram boke’ land or buffer zone. This enables the authorities to detect the
encroachments on the canal. Though the
deadline given for the work is November 30, 2016, the authorities will not
finish the survey in time as they are working with the skeletal staff of
four surveyors.
Canal
Restoration Plan
According
to the plan worked out, the full stretch of the canal connecting Kovalam to Akkulam
will be made navigable. At Akkulam, the
canal will open into backwaters. To make this happen, the depth of the canal
should increase. So, the authorities are planning to dredge the canal and clean
it. In order to stop the mixing of sewage from the banks with canal water, the
authorities are planning to lay new sewage pipe lines. Authorities believe that
the canal has a unique and natural design. This design enables it flushes
itself out water naturally using sea water during heavy rainfall. Hence, they
believe that with some effort at cleaning the canal will keep it clean for many
years.
Potential
of Restored Canal
At
reasonable depth, the Parvathy Puthanar canal will become navigable for cruise
operations from Trivandrum International Airport to Kovalam. As an extension, the canal will also be
linked to the Kollam-Kottapuram National Waterway 3 to increase the transport
through water, which is the cheapest mode available in the state. After
completion, the navigation canal will have a length of 16 kilometres and a
depth of 2.2 meters. The renovated canal has the hot potential to become a hot
tourism circuit in the city, as it links two famous destinations such as Akkulam
and Kovalam.
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