KOCHI: The tendering of tetrapod seawall project at Chellanam has reached nowhere as the decision to award the contract to Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS), the only eligible bidder, is pending.
The estimated cost proposed by ULCCS in its bid was 13% higher than the tender estimate and the government is yet to approve it.
The delay in awarding the contract would delay the works, which is expected to be completed before the monsoon.
Residents said that if the seawall is not constructed at least in those places which are most vulnerable to sea erosion before the monsoon, the sea will wreak havoc along the coast.
Earlier there were reports that ULCCS would bag the multi-crore project as the only other bidder, Thrissur District Labour Contract Cooperative Society (TDLCCS), got disqualified as they did not meet the eligibility criteria. Sources with Kerala Irrigation Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (KIIDC), which floated the tender, said that the estimated project cost proposed by ULCCS was around Rs 30 crore higher than the KIIDC’s tender estimate of Rs 254.2 crore.
Amid the protests by the residents and allegations of delay in implementing a comprehensive solution to the sea erosion issues at Chellanam coastal village, KIIDC floated the tenders for the reformation of damaged sunken seawall using tetrapods by the end of October.
In the first phase of the project, seawall will be constructed at a length of around 7km in between CP stones 986 and CP 1026 at a cost of Rs 254 crore under KIIFB funding.
“Though irrigation minister Roshy Augustine said that the work would begin soon, even the tendering is not completed. In the past too government made several promises and launched many projects to stop sea erosion but nothing has fructified so far. Many houses near to the sea will not survive another monsoon,” said Care Chellanam coordinator Jinson Veluthamannungal.
Meanwhile, the high court has issued an interim order making Ernakulam District Legal Services Authority a party in PIL filed by Chellanam residents seeking permanent solution to sea erosion woes. This is to monitor the developments of various measures taken by the irrigation department at Chellanam.
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