KOZHIKODE: The Kozhikode Municipal Corporation (KMC) has come up with a 17-point action plan to clean up Kallai river. Some of the projects mentioned in the plan are even listed under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). The Kallai river has been categorised under Red Zone among the 351 most polluted rivers in the country by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
The river which was once the lifeline of the city has now worsened into a mass of blackish water, mainly due to industrial discharges. The residue deposited underneath has made the river inappropriate for water transport. Besides, the block at the mouth of the Kallai is reflected as one of the reasons for water stagnation in the Conolly canal that links the river with Korappuzha in the north.
The efforts to clean up the river started much before it was branded under the Red Zone. However, the inaccessibility of land to deposit silt delayed the project.
At present, the dredging at the mouth of the river is being combined with the clean-up of the Conolly canal under a ₹49-lakh project. However, a draft action plan, combining the projects of the government as well as various agencies is awaiting financial support from the government. The projects that come under the plan to recover the Kallai include even the three sewage treatment plants proposed under AMRUT. “Our aim is to improve the water quality of the city on the whole and not just the river. STPs are an integral part of it,” said Dr R S Gopakumar, health officer of the corporation.
The other projects comprise of the use of a solar boat to clean up the Conolly canal, setting up traps at the mouths of drains that open into the canal and the river to prevent plastic pollution, setting up several Thumboormoozhi composts in the city, and the waste-to-energy plant planned at Njeliyanparamba. The ₹35-lakh initiative to control the use of disposable utensils is also part of the project.
“We plan to complete most of them by December 2021. But STPs will take more time,” Dr Gopakumar added.