Thiruvananthapuram: The district administration has decided to hold more rounds of discussions before going ahead with the Veli breakwater project to mitigate the floods in the city. In a meeting convened on Tuesday, the collector sought consensus of the residents of Valiyaveli and local parish for the project execution. The revenue officials also pointed out that they have the requisite environmental clearance to execute the project.
The 200-metre structure was expected to keep Akkulam-Velilake system connected to sea 24x7 to avoid flooding in the city. However, this would accelerate the coastal erosion and increase the cycles of waste discharge, said the residents. Collector K. Vasuki was asked to hold a talk with the coastal population as the impact might cover a wider area. The representatives from Valiyaveli, who also included marine scientists such as Johnson Jament, listed out the concerns.
"This will accelerate the erosion of beach to the north of the project site. In such a scenario, even rehabilitation won't be possible as the land belongs to Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. The social and environmental impact of the project should be taken into consideration," said Robert Panipilla, chief coordinator of the NGO, Friends of Marine Life.
The Rs 27-crore project which was envisaged before a decade was put on hold due to the fear of environment impact. It was fast-tracked in 2015 after flood mitigation effort under Operation Anantha. The natural sand bar at Veli used to break every monsoon avoiding flood. However, with settlements developing close to wetlands and water bodies, the manual removal of sandbar has become necessary to prevent flooding.
