Giving a shot in the arm for the development of the ambitious West Coast canal project, the Cabinet on Wednesday sanctioned ₹2,21,98,012 from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board for expeditious completion of rehabilitation works for facilitating the development of the Varkala section of the TS Canal, which is a part of the West Coast Canal project.
The fund will be issued through the Kerala Waterways and Infrastructure Ltd, the special purpose vehicle created for the rejuvenation of the inland waterways in Kerala. Further, the meeting decided to sanction ₹1,61,98,012 for the rehabilitation of the remaining 36 families on the stretch to complete the rehabilitation under the Punargeham rehabilitation scheme.
An additional ₹30 lakh will be provided to three families who need to be rehabilitated. The second phase of the project involves developing the State Waterways to the standard of National Waterways.
The second phase involves rehabilitating 1,275 families from the banks of the canal between Kovalam and Varkala for which a sum of ₹247 crore was already approved by KIIFB. Already 76 families here had been rehabilitated under the Punargeham project rehabilitation scheme meant for coastal families.
