Negotiations on desilting of Malampuzha, Karapuzha, Malankara, Maniyar and Pazhassi reservoirs
Negotiations on desilting of Malampuzha, Karapuzha, Malankara, Maniyar and Pazhassi reservoirs
The state government is in talks with the Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) to desilt five dam reservoirs managed by the Irrigation Department.
Discussions are underway with DCI to restore the water storage capacity of Malampuzha, Karapuzha, Malankara, Maniyar and Pazhassi reservoirs. According to the Irrigation Department, these five reservoirs are out of 16 whose water holding capacity has shrunk due to accumulation of sand and silt.
Empowered Committee
The State Government had constituted a High Level Empowered Committee and a Technical Committee to oversee the siltation of various dams.
In August, Water Resources Minister Roshi Augustine informed the assembly about discussions with the DCI.
In the case of other dams under the Irrigation Department, the Empowered Committee in a meeting on May 30 decided to entrust the work of removal of the Aruvikkara Dam in Thiruvananthapuram district, managed by Kerala Water, to the Kerala Irrigation Infrastructure Development Corporation (KIIDC). authority. KIIDC, an agency of the Irrigation Department, is also engaged in desilting work from the Chuliyar Dam in Palakkad.
The work of desilting the Walayar and Meenkara dams was entrusted to the Kerala Mineral Development Corporation.
Although the work on the Mangalam dam was started as a pilot project in December 2020, the Empowered Committee had recommended termination of the contract in May this year as the work did not proceed along the planned trajectory. Under this project 1,55,941 cubic meters of silt and waste have been removed.