Cabinet nod for constructing protective seawall on Pozhiyoor-Kollemcode stretch

The Cabinet meeting held here on Thursday gave in-principle approval for constructing a protective seawall along the sea erosion-hit areas on the Pozhiyoor-Kollemcode stretch in Thiruvananthapuram. The work, valued at ₹43.65 crore, will be carried out on a 1.2-km stretch as per the design approved by the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR).

Sea erosion and beach depletion had endangered the lives and properties of hundreds of fisherfolk along the coastal stretch, leading to friction with authorities, especially during the pre-monsoon and monsoon period.

According to a Cabinet note, a PMU (project management unit)/coordination committee will be formed on the lines of the model adopted in Chellanam in Ernakulam to implement the project. The Kerala Irrigation Infrastructure Development Corporation (KIIDC) will be appointed as the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), and the funds will be made available through the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), said the Cabinet briefing.

The people on the coastal stretch had been up in arms against the administration, as close to 4,500 families in the village have been facing the brunt of the coastal erosion due to the delay in implementing the long-term project to safeguard the shoreline of Pozhiyoor. Each monsoon season, hundreds of families are shifted to relief camps as the lashing waves often gnaw away substantial portions of the shoreline, flooding the coastal hamlets.

New harbour too

Recently, the State government cleared the decks for the construction of a new fishing harbour at Pozhiyoor, as demanded by the fisherfolk here for a long time, and announced ₹5 crore for the first phase of the project. The fisherfolk in the region have been demanding the construction of a protective seawall and harbour simultaneously, as they feared that construction of a seawall alone would obstruct their fishing activities. Pozhiyoor is one of the 10 hotspots vulnerable to severe coastal erosion in the State identified by the Irrigation department.