The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Low-lying bridges, fishing nets create bottlenecks

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 15, 2005

Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

Low-lying bridges, fishing nets create bottlenecks

John L. Paul

Marad terminal of National Waterway-III completed

Ready for the take-off: The Marad terminal of the Inland Waterways Authority of India, which is scheduled to be open soon. This is among the seven terminals of the National Waterway-III. Photo: Mahesh Harilal

KOCHI: The Marad terminal of the National Waterway-III, which has a capacity to berth barges with unladen weight of 400 DWT, is ready for inauguration.

The terminal and jetty, located near the Thykoodam bridge on the NH-47 bypass, were completed at a cost of Rs 1.30 crores. This is the seventh terminal to be completed in the 205-km NW-III, which connects Kottapuram and Kollam. The other terminals on the route are Kottapuram, Aluva, Kakkanad, Vaikom, Thannermukkom and Trikunnapuzha. Once inaugurated, the terminal and the jetty will be a base for transporting raw materials for FACT, as also coir, cashew, etc. But the four-lane work on the NH bypass between Vytilla and Aroor has resulted in the approach road to the terminal getting blocked.

"A road of at least six metres is required for trucks to travel. But the existing width of the road has been reduced to around four metres because of the four-lane work. We have demanded a vertical retaining wall so that at least 1.5 metres of land will be added to the approach road. We are also probing the possibility of an alternate road to reach the terminal," said Dandapat S., Director of Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), which is in charge of NW-III.

Low-lying bridges which block the passage of vessels, fishing nets encroaching into the waterway and the lack of coordination among different agencies which have a stake in the water bodies have held up dredging and canal-widening work in the 205-km national waterway.

On condition of anonymity, IWAI sources said that the State Government has been dithering on increasing the height of bridges, which criss-cross NW-III, relocating pipelines and in removing traditional and Chinese fishing nets which have encroached into the waterway, all along the Kottapuram-Kollam stretch.

There are seven low-lying bridges in the Champakkara canal area alone. Their height from the water level varies from just around four to six metres. The Cherai bridge is just 4.5 metres in height and the waterway beneath it has a width of only 20 metres, whereas the requisite width is at least 40 metres. The minimum height required for bridges located over waterways is seven metres. The waterway beneath many road and railway over bridges is also not wide enough for vessels to travel in either direction. The IWAI had to approach the court to raise the height of the Goshree bridges.

"In Ernakulam alone, Chinese nets encroach on the waterway from both sides in Aroor, Champakkara and Cherai. The waterway requires a minimum width of 32 metres. The State Government has to take the initiative in removing the nets. Often, local people prevent dredging in some areas, saying that it will pollute their fish farms. In Champakkara Canal, the IWAI had to take the issue of people blocking the waterway up with the district coordination committee," Mr. Dandapat said.

By 2006, the IWAI hopes to start at least one-way traffic in NW-III, he said.

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