Chellanam in Kerala on edge once more over delay in second-phase tetrapod seawall development

Three months after the Kerala authorities permitted the ₹306-crore second section plan for developing a tetrapod seawall in Chellanam panchayat, which stays extremely weak to coastal erosion, there was little progress.

At the market charges calculated on the time, the federal government was anticipated to spend about ₹100 crore per kilometre. With native physique elections anticipated to be notified quickly, adopted by the enforcement of the mannequin code of conduct, the affected inhabitants within the coastal panchayat, who’ve been protesting below the banner of the Chellanam-Kochi Janakeeya Vedhi for a everlasting answer to sea incursion over the previous six years, are apprehensive that the mission might not start quickly.

An government committee assembly of the organisation held not too long ago determined to mark the protest coming into the seventh 12 months by holding a day-long dharna at Thoppumpady on October 28. Plans for additional protests are additionally below manner.

“There has been no motion on the mission because it was introduced on July 2. Securing renewed administrative, technical, and monetary sanctions earlier than the notification of native physique polls is essential for the work to start with out additional delay,” stated V.T. Sebastian, normal convenor of Chellanam-Kochi Janakeeya Vedhi.

The first section of the mission, masking a 7.3-km stretch from Chellanam to Puthenthode, was accomplished at a value of ₹347 crore in 2023. Although the preliminary plan included the remaining 3.60-km stretch from Puthenthode to Cheriyakkadavu, the mission executor – Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society Ltd – was solely capable of full as much as Puthenthode because of a revised estimate.

A high-level assembly had determined that the second section would even be executed as a Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) mission.

At the time of the mission’s announcement, it was acknowledged {that a} detailed mission report (DPR) had already been ready and solely the executive sanction wanted renewal.

Chellanam is the worst affected

Chellanam is the worst affected among the many 10 hotspots dealing with sea erosion in Kerala, as recognized by the Irrigation division.

The Chellanam-Kochi Janakeeya Vedhi has constantly demanded that the federal government revisit the partial implementation strategy and resolve the problem by extending the tetrapod seawall past Cheriyakkadavu as much as Beach Road, masking all affected areas in Chellanam panchayat.

The organisation famous that the piecemeal implementation of the shore conservation mission in Chellanam is unscientific and insufficient to sort out the worsening sea erosion.