The opposition against plans to construct an artificial canal for arterial inland waterways from Mahe to Valapattanam is gaining strength in Kannur.
Those raising protests demand that instead of the project that will displace people and create environmental destruction, the government should implement the Coastal Waterways project through the sea that was proposed by the E.K. Nayanar government.
Several hundred people and members of various groups from panchayats and the Panoor municipality staged a protest march to the Sub Collector’s office at Thalassery recently. In another public meeting, people who gathered at Kadachira Higher Secondary School univocally raised their apprehension and opposed the plan to construct an artificial canal.
E. Maneesh, Chairman, Anti-Artificial Waterway Joint Strike Committee, Kannur district, said that the government should abandon the project. The canals will be created in three uncut portions along the 57-km Mahe-Valapattanam stretch of the West Coast Canal, the arterial inland waterway of the State. Around 26 km of artificial canals are being constructed to provide waterway connectivity in Trippangottur, Peringalam, Panoor, Mokeri, Payyannur and Thalassery villages, and to link the Ancharakandi river to the Valapattanam river in Kannur.
“When the environmental impact assessment (EIA) was done as part of the National Waterways project in 1963, Kannur and Kasaragod districts were excluded. The study showed that it would harm the environment. The inland waterways were proposed till Kozhikode,” alleged Mr. Maneesh. But the State government, by hiding these facts, is trying to construct an artificial canal for which no EIA was done.
Mr. Maneesh alleged the that artificial canal is being proposed for extending the Malanad-Malabar River Cruise project, which has received nod from the Centre to be implemented only in the existing waterways in the district. However, this is done for acquiring land to serve the interest of a few people with vested interest, he alleged.
Rajan, district convenor, Jalapada Virudha Samithi, at Kadachira, said that the artificial canal should hold a minimum of 2.2 metres of water to drive a boat. However, the officials have failed to answer whether it is possible to maintain this water level at all times and from where the water will come to the canal. They are unable to even reply to an RTI petition, he alleged.
There is a proposal to dig a canal that is 60-metres wide and about five-metres deep. The alignment is passing through residential areas and wetlands. “We fear that groundwater will be affected and will turn saline as the sea is about 1.5 km from the proposed area,” he said. It happened when the artificial canal connecting from Kuttiyadi River to Thurutti puzha, Peringathur River, turned into saline, dirty water and the nearby wells turned saline, Mr. Rajan said.
He further said that even after so many years, the National Waterways project has not been completed. The first phase of the National Waterway from Kollam to Kottapuram is still not completed in Thrissur. Likewise, the National Waterway is still to be completed from Kottapuram to Peringathur.
The protesting groups demanded that the coastal waterway project from Mahe to Bekal, for which ₹200 crore was allocated in the Budget during Nayanar’s government should be implemented. Besides helping to protect the region, the coastal waterways will help in introducing water metro services as well, they argued.
