The extension of Water Metro ferry service from the Kakkanad to Infopark remains uncertain, thanks to delay in constructing a bridge that has 5.5-m vertical clearance over the Kadambrayar river, and similar delay in dismantling Kozhichira bund on the waterbody.
The bridge that was expected to cost ₹30 crore is yet to be realised, while the bund that served its purpose when much of the Infopark-Smart City area was agricultural land before it became a prominent IT hub in the State, has not been demolished, according to official sources.
The Vyttila-Infopark route is considered one of the most promising routes for Water Metro ferries due to choked roads leading to the IT hub from the city. The commencement of piling for Kochi Metro’s 11.2-km Kakkanad extension and extensive barricading of Civil Line Road will further necessitate ferrying of commuters in Water Metro ferries up to Infopark.
The bund, built prior to summer and removed before the onset of monsoon, was constructed to contain saline incursion during peak summer months when run-off was minimum in the river. It was followed by a pump house being set up on KINFRA land and a few industrial units and others were permitted to directly source water from the river. The bund also resulted in severe deterioration of water quality downstream, due to high concentration of pollutants. It also resulted in exponential growth of invasive species such as water hyacinth, to the detriment of fishes and other living organisms. Its strong fibres posed the additional risk of entrapping propellers of boats and ferries, a safety hazard, it is learnt.
A permanent solution that Kochi Metro Rail Limited suggested was to devise better control of the water upstream, without affecting the Infopark area. The marginal increase in salinity if the bund was removed would be within 1.50 ppt, which is within the range accepted by the World Health Organisation for drinking water. The water will even otherwise need to be treated before use due to the high level of pollutants. Any shortfall in water supply could be compensated for by releasing water from Bhoothathankettu dam.
Moreover, a social impact study by the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management found that the benefits of Water Metro ferries operating up to Infopark outweighed the possible negative impact of the bund removal by a wide margin, with 87% of the respondents terming the extension of the ferries as beneficial. Many of them had treatment plants to purify water before use, said sources.
