National Waterway III : Kerala’s Lifeline of Development

The National Waterway from Kollam to Kottappuram is being inaugurated by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan at the Inland Water Authority Terminal at Maradu in Kochi on 20th November.

The geographical phenomenon of a wide network of lakes and canals, a unique natural resource of Kerala was lying unutilised for several decades. Once these were extensively used for transportation of goods and commutation. The increasing volume of road traffic with its attendant problems had led our planners to turn to this cheap mode of transport through waterway. It can reduce the cost of transportation by 40 per cent compared to road transport. It was hoped that by opening up this waterway Kerala could effect rapid economic transformation. Planners have been discussing the formation of the west coat waterway from Kovalam to Kasargod connecting the wide network of lakes with existing canals that could be widened and new ones that could be constructed. The National Waterway project, formed on the basis of an Act passed by the Parliament in 1993 could not be operationalised due to certain problems. The LDF Government took it as one among its list of priorities and work on the project was undertaken in a time bound manner.

The major problems the Government faced while expediting the National Waterway Project were the removal of Chinese nets along the course of the waterway, compensation for the fishermen who owned these nets, land acquisition for the Alappuzha terminal, consequent rehabilitation efforts and the need to find a suitable place to dump the waste generated during dredging works. The Centre has given assistance of Rs. 85 crores for the Kollam – Kottappuram sector of the waterway. The State Government has already proposed to complete the work of the waterway south of Kollam and north of Kottappuam in the next two years with further assistance from the Central Government.

A Rs. 20 crore project to connect the Cochin International Airport with the National Waterway at Eloor in Kochi is on the anvil. Once this becomes operational it will be the first one in the country that connects an airport with a seaport. A canal to connect National waterway with Kottayam is also propsoed.

The west coast waterway has three stretches: Kovalam-Kollam sector, Kollam-Kottappuram area and the Kottappuram – Kasargod segment. Development work in Kollam – Kottappuram sector is completed. Development on the Kovalam-Kollam segment is already set in motion. The tunnel under hills at Varkala, which is part of the segment, will be widened and its depth increased to facilitate navigation. The Chief Minister visited this tunnel and passed through the under passage for a first hand knowledge of its capacity and efficacy as a crucial part of the waterway.

Steps have also been taken simultaneously for commencing work on the Kottappuram –Kasargod portion which is intended to be commissioned in March 2009. NATPC had done the technical feasibility study of this 391 km stretch of the National Waterway and later Wilber Smith Associates carried out the environmental impact assessment. Construction of new canals from Vadakara to Kasargod is needed for the completion of work in this segment. The Kottappuram Neeleshawarm part of the waterway requires the constructrion of 3 canals in a stretch of 38km. This project has been forewarded to the centre for allocation of funds. Development work in a few backwaters – Elathur, Valapattanam, Neeleswaram, Valiya Paramba, Cheruvathoor, Chandragiri and Ponnani Biyyam Kayal – will also have to be taken up. Besides effecting a drastic reduction in transportation cost the commissioning of this stretch of the waterway will give impetus to backwater and sea-beach tourism.

Inaugurating the Kollam Commercial port at Thankassery and dedicating it to the nation Chief Minister said that transportation of goods to and from Kollam port would be improved by making use of all possibilities of Kollam- Kottappuram waterway. Chief Minister also envisioned during his inaugural speech that all the ports on the coast of Kerala will be bustling with trading and commercial activities once the National Waterway III is completed and navigation starts in full stream on it. The economic possibilities that the west coast waterway can open up for Kerala will be far beyond all our expectations.