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A high-level meeting to resolve the bottlenecks of the Kollam-Kottappuram National Waterway III will be held next month.
“The meeting in this regard will be held after the Emerging Kerala meet and will be chaired by the Chief Minister,” said K Babu, Minister for Ports and Inland Navigation.
He told Express that the fisherfolk using the waterway are now demanding for more compensation, creating a hurdle for the smooth functioning of the project. “There were 100 fishing poles in the Kollam-Chavara stretch. A compensation of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 each were respectively distributed to the owners with and without a licence. But now the fisherfolk are demanding more from the government,” he said.
He was optimistic in settling the issue as he is the first Minister in the state to handle the portfolios, Inland Navigation and Fisheries, together. Various governments, past and present, had set various deadlines for making the 205-km Kollam-Kottappuram waterway operational, which was sanctioned nearly 22 years ago.
The 590-km waterway of Kerala, benefitting cargo transport and the tourism sector, would be functional only after the commissioning of Kovalam-Kollam, Kottappuram- Neeleeshwaram and Ko l l am-Ko t t appur am stretches.
“Though the state government has a role in the construction process, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has to be blamed for the delay.
The lethargic attitude is the main reason for the sorry state of affairs.
The Central government is not paying the same amount of attention that it has offered to the national highways,” said former Minister N K Premachandran.
“The Central government could not be held responsible for the delay. The state government has to carry on with the work with the funds allocated. We will sort the issues soon and will make the waterway operational this year itself,” said Babu, countering the above view.
Both the leaders opined that clearing the Kovalam- Kollam stretch would not be an easy task.
“The rehabilitation in the Kollam-Eravipuram stretch will be the most difficult. The LDF government had allotted houses in 3.5-cent land to nearly 1,000 families under the Tsunami Rehabilitation Project. However, the affected families demand land at the town itself,” said Premachandran.
He added that handling the Varkala tunnel in the Eravipuram-Kovalam stretch would be another obstacle, hampering progress.
“We will start the Kollam- Kovalam stretch only after finishing the National Waterway III,” said Babu.
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