KOCHI: A day before the residents planned to meet him to raise their demands, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday announced a Rs 10-crore package for Chellanam to bolster the works to prevent sea erosion in the area. The package is part of the `200-crore scheme formulated to protect areas affected by sea erosion across the state.

As per the plan, a 1km-long seawall will be constructed using geotubes for `8 crore at Chellanam, which would be completed by January 2021. Besides, work worth `1 crore will be done for the construction of 220m-long seawall at Chellanam Bazaar. Another `30 lakh will be used to construct 270m-long temporary seawall at Chalakadavu, Malakhappadi and Kannamali.

Announcing the scheme, Pinarayi said the plan was not only to protect the coastal areas, but also safeguard the fisherfolk. The construction of two ‘pulimuttu’ (sea breaker) at Malakhapadi and the restoration of another three at Malakhapadi and Kannamali will be implemented as per the recommendation of the Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT-Madras.

According to MLA K J Maxi, close to `4 crore will be spent on repairs and `6 crore will be spent on the construction of new seawalls. “Besides, steps have been taken to conduct research on advanced coastal protection methods with the assistance of the National Institute of Open Technology in Chennai,” he said.
During the May-June period, a 425m-long temporary seawall was constructed using geo-bags for `69.6 lakh. Besides, a 900m-long temporary seawall was built at Malakhappadi, Deepti, Anganwadi, Bazaar, Velankanni, Chalakadavu, Rithalayam, and Puthenthodu for `97.8 lakh.