The project to make the 633-km West Coast Canal (WCC) from Kovalam to Kasaragod navigable has got a fillip with the commissioning of the 310-km stretch of the inland waterway from Veli to Chavakkad by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday. The project is being taken up as per the National Waterways specifications at ₹2,300 crore.
At a simple function at the boat jetty of the Veli tourist village, the Chief Minister commissioned the rejuvenated 62 km of State Waterways from Veli to Kollam and 168 km of the National Waterway from Kollam to Kottappuram and 80 km from Kottappuram to Chavakkad.
Later, the Chief Minister took a short cruise from Veli to Poundukadavu in the Veli-Kadinamkulam stretch of the Parvathy Puthanar on a 24-seater solar boat, indigenously manufactured for Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL).
V.S. Sivakumar and V. Joy, MLAs; Additional Chief Secretary, Home and Inland Navigation T.K. Jose; and Managing Director of KWIL, V.J. Kurien, accompanied the Chief…