Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan unveiled a ₹200 crore programme to protect several segments of the Kerala coast from sea erosion.
These include a ₹184 crore project to establish 114 sea groyn fields off Alappuzha coast.
Work on the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB)-funded, Chennai IIT-designed groyn fields is scheduled to be completed by March 2022, said the Chief Minister, who announced the programme over video conferencing from Thiruvnananthapuram on Saturday.
The groyn fields are being established off the coast of the Assembly constituencies of Alappuzha, Ambalappuzha and Harippad. These structures will benefit 625 families directly and between 1,500 and 2,000 families indirectly.
The Chief Minister said that ₹2 crore each had been allotted to nine districts that faced serious sea erosion problem for taking up emergency works. In addition ₹6 lakh from non-Plan fund had been earmarked for sea protection works.
Work to protect various segments of the Chellanam coast in Eranakulam district are in progress. These include establishment of 475-metres of seawall using geo textile tubes as a temporary measure to protect the Vachakkal, Cheriyakadavu and Companippadi coastal segments at a cost of ₹69.60-lakh. The work was taken up in May-June this year.
Another work is the building of 900-metre sea wall using the same technique along the Malakhappadi, Anganawadi, Bazaar, Chalakkadvu, Reetalayam and Puthethode segments at a cost of ₹97.8 crore.
Another ₹1 crore will be spent on building a km-long geo textiles seawall. This is expected to be ready by January 2021.
These sea wall project apart, two new breakwaters are to be built off the coast of Malakhappadi at a cost of ₹4 crore. The breakwaters are designed by the Ocean Engineering division of IIT, Chennai. Another ₹6 crore will be spent on renovating three breakwaters off Kannamali and Malakhappadi coast.
Coastal protection measures are also being taken up in Neyyattikara, Valiyathura, Vettukad and Kochuthop in Thiruvananthapuram district. The works include a ₹40.60 lakh project in Neyyattinkara and a ₹4 crore project in Valiyathura. These works are expected to be completed in December this year.
Coastal protection works are also being taken up in Madayi and Mattur segments in Kannur district where ₹16 crore is being invested in these works
The Chief Minister said that protection of the 576-km coast, coastal villages, fishers and their families and property, fishing boats and gears was vital to the State as the community of fishers constituted a ‘special army’ of the State.
