more-in The State government has decided to take up repairs of the Kuttiyadi canal and dredging work of the Korappuzha estuary in the district. At a review meeting held here on Tuesday, Water Resources Minister Mathew T. Thomas said ?7.15 crore would be allotted to repair the eight-km stretch of the Iringal branch canal of Kuttiyadi Irrigation Project. Dredging would be carried out on the 1,700-metre stretch of Korappuzha estuary, he said. An estimate had already been obtained for repairing the Iringal branch canal. Steps would be taken up with the Finance Department to speed up the process. The executive engineer was tasked to look into the matter, the Minister said. Mr. Thomas said concrete lining would be done on the damaged stretch of the canal. The Kuttiyadi project has a length of 602.54 km and has 10 branches supplying water to various places. The Iringal branch canal, which needs urgent repair, delivers water to Payyoli and Koyilandy municipalities, and Mudadi and Thikkodi grama panchayats in the district. However, the canal could earlier supply water to distances of more than 10 kms. Water could be provided to more places after repairs were carried out, said Mr. Thomas. Livelihood hit The huge formation of sand layers at Korappuzha estuary had obstructed the flow of water and resulted in the accumulation of waste and clay. The livelihood of thousands of fishermen and other workers engaged in inland water fishing had been affected. An estimate for ?3.75 crore had been prepared for getting administrative sanction for the work. The dredging will be carried out at a width of 50 meters and depth of two metres. The department has been asked to take immediate steps to carry out the project. K. Dasan and A.K. Saseendran, MLAs, Kuttiyadi Irrigation Project executive engineer K. Ramachandran and elected representatives took part in the meeting.

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