KOCHI: The district administration has kick started the ambitious project of setting up the Kochi-Nedumbassery waterway project, with a trial run through the canal connecting the international airport and the Kadambrayar.The team led by District Collector P I Sheik Pareeth, in four small boats, started the journey from Infopark and ended at the Kadambrayar river. MLA Benny Behnan, Thrikkakara Municipality chairman P I Muhammad Ali and officials were among those who travelled in the boats.Pareeth said that the trial run was conducted to know the hurdles to be removed before conducting the actual run. “The major difficulty in achieving the goal would be cleaning of the canals, which are filled with mud and hyacinths. We have to see where the canal has to be deepened and how the hyacinths can be removed,” he said.He said that they would overcome all hurdles in making the waterway a success. He also noted that the waterway would ease the traffic congestion to a certain limit. The project is envisaged as part of the plans to develop waterways in the city.The district administration is planning to introduce new machinery for cleaning the canals, instead of using traditional methods of cleaning which include use of JCBs and junkars. The district administration is planning to make use of a US-made machinery, available with the fisheries department, to remove the hyacinths. Moreover, the administration would also be introducing eco-friendly jet boats. Once the Marine Drive-Vytilla-Infopark-Nedumbassery waterway becomes a reality, it will take only 35 minutes to reach Nedumbassery.The water resources department has already conducted a study on the feasibility of waterways in the city and had proposed a `150 crore project to develop them. The Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) said that they are looking into the possibilities of developing waterways in the city to ease the congestion on the roads.
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