Artificial canals will be created in three uncut portions along the 57-km Mahe-Valapattanam stretch of the West Coast Canal (WCC), the arterial inland waterway of the State, which is being developed to the standard of a National Waterway.
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 district.
The developed 26-km Mahe-Valapattanam stretch of the WCC needs to be linked to the Ancharakandy river to ensure water connectivity to the newly commissioned Kannur International Airport.
Airport connectivity
Direct waterway connectivity to the three international airports — Thiruvananthapuram, Cochin and Kannur — is part of the ₹2,300-crore project to make the 633-km WCC from Kovalam to Kasaragod navigable by May 2020.
The government has given administrative sanction to acquire 178.95 acres spread over the six villages and another 246.5 acres between the Ancharakandy and Valapattanam rivers for creating artificial canals, sources said.
Kerala Waterways and Infrastructure Development Ltd., the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) set up for the timely development of inland waterways, is on the job. The KWIL has found that the 26-km uncut portion of the 57-km Mahe-Valapattanam corridor is the biggest challenge. Artificial link canal on a 60-metre-wide corridor has to be built to connect the Mahe and Valapattanam rivers. Thiruvananthapuram, Cochin, and Kannur airports are being linked to the WCC as part of incorporating a multi-modal transport system.
