KOZHIKODE: A trial run was made to signal the restoration of the 11.2 km stretch waterway in Canolly Canal on Tuesday as a curtain raiser for the boating facility that is being introduced for the visitors to Malabar Shopping festival coming up in December.

The trial run was led by District Collector A. Jayathilak. Executive engineer of Irrigation Department M.K. Sebastian, assistant executive engineer A. Mohammed Ashraf and C. Janardana of Karma, a non-governmental organisation also participated in the journey by a speedboat through the recently restored waterway between the old bridge at Eranjikkal and the Dream City project site at Eranhipalam.

The waterway is being opened up as one of the attractions of the for the visitors who are expected to reach the city in large number to witness the Malabar Shopping Festival scheduled to be held in December.

Dr. Jayathilak said after the journey that the waterway had to be improved further. Plastic waste had accumulated in some places in the canal along which the boat was traverse. Desilting had to be done to deepen the canal in some other places.

A multi-crore project for the renovation of the canal is remaining incomplete though crores of rupees have already been spent on it. However, sides of the canal had been strengthened under the scheme at least in some places.

Efforts now on to introduce boating facility in Canolly Canal have once again brought into focus the slipshod manner in which the canal renovation project was under taken and the tardy progress it had made.

The Canolly Canal renovation project was launched with much fanfare nine years ago.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail