The waterway has proven to be beneficial and cost-effective in transporting goods by the FACT in Kochi
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KOLLAM: National Waterway III connecting the 205-kilometer stretch from Kollam to Kottappuram is almost complete with only a little dredging and widening works remaining. However, the project poses a major concern over whether the private sector would find it sufficiently appealing as to invest in procuring barges to use the waterway. The government should prove the feasibility of the waterway in transporting merchandise by initially offering such services, which private investors can emulate.
The waterway lagged behind because of two maj-or bottlenecks in Kollam — a two-kilometer stretch in Chavara where the dredging and widening process is still under progress due to technical issues and the construction of a foot over-bridge which, residents demand should be a wider bridge at Kovilthottam.
The dredging works along the stretch in Chavara was halted earlier as the lake basin had harder laterite deposits. The inland waterways authority of India (IWAI) which has the administrative control of the project, procured advanced amphibious dredgers to continue the works as blasting was not feasible because of the dense population on either side of the lake. The area was also too narrow to support a two-way transport and it could not be further widened.
A foot over-bridge at Kovilthottam became an issue because locals demanded a bridge that could hold motor transport, instead of just a foot over-bridge. The existing foot over-bridge has to be removed as it has lower clearance than prescribed by the proposal of the National waterway III. The construction has been kept pending as it is likely to impact the financial aspect of the project due to high cost of land acquisition for approach roads of the bridge if constructed, a higher official from IWAI told DC.
The waterway has proven to be beneficial and cost-effective in transporting goods by the FACT in Kochi.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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