The Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society (ULCCS) will be awarded the contract for constructing a seawall at coastal erosion-hit Chellanam in Ernakulam district.
The Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday gave its approval for the contract worth ₹256 crore, Minister for Water Resources Roshy Augustine said.
In the first phase, tetrapods - the four-‘limbed’ concrete structures used for coastal protection - will be laid along a distance of 7.3 km. Mr. Augustine said the government is targeting the completion of preliminary works before the onset of the next southwest monsoon season in June 2022.
In August this year, the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) had cleared a ₹344.2 crore funding proposal for the renovation of damaged sea wall and construction of a groyne field at Chellanam. The coastal protection for Chellanam has been designed on the basis of a study carried out by the National Centre for Coastal Research, Chennai.
Thickly-populated Chellanam has a coastline spanning 21 kms. The region has a population of 13,000, with more than 1,000 houses hugging the coast, Mr. Augustine said.
The construction of groynes along Bazar and Kannamali stretches in this region will be taken up as a separate work, worth approximately ₹90 crore, the Minister’s office said.
With sea erosion emerging as a major challenge for the State in recent years, the State Government had announced a ₹5,300 crore package for coastal conservation, to be carried out over a five-year period in the Budget.
