Parvathy Puthanar needs to wait for purification

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Thiruvananthapuram may have to wait some more to see the polluted Parvathy Puthanar cleaned up.Water Resources Minister P J Joseph told the Assembly on Monday that the proposal for cleaning up the polluted waterway which passes through the city will be taken up under the 13th Finance Commission schemes. “Rs 100 crore had been allocated for entire Kerala by the 12th Finance Commission for similar projects. But few works were actually implemented. Cleaning up the Parvathy Puthanar is a priority. It will be included in the 13th Finance Commission proposals,” Joseph said in reply to a question by V Sivankutty MLA. Sivankutty had stressed the need to clean up the canal and restore the water body to its old glory.Kovalam-Kollam Waterway As many as 370 families may have to be rehabilitated at Varkala for developing the Kovalam-Kollam waterway, Minister P J Joseph said.“The Kovalam-Kollam stretch is 76 km long. NATPAC was, on September 27, appointed to study its potential for inclusion in the National Waterway. The study will be finished within six months,” Joseph said.A parallel line may have to be developed along the Varkala Tunnel on the Kovalam-Varkala waterway stretch, as it is too narrow, the Minister said. This is because the Varkala Tunnel is only five metres wide, while the standard width of the National Waterway is 14 metres, he said.Varkala Kahar MLA said that although the then Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan had made a hyped trip through the tunnel, its development was stalled. Replying to this, the Minister attributed the delay to the non-completion of demarcation. The District Collector has been issued instructions in this regard, he said.