Long-awaited dredging of Kallai to begin on Feb. 20

Dredging of Kallai River in Kozhikode begins to restore natural flow and reduce waterlogging, long-awaited project.

The long-awaited dredging as part of the desilting of the Kallai river in Kozhikode begins on Thursday. The machinery required for the purpose, including a dredger, has been brought to Kothi, where the river meets the sea, while a large excavator is arriving from Mumbai. A Hopper barge from Beypore will be anchored in sea to deposit the excavated silt.

The desilting work was inaugurated in October 2024, but the survey took longer than expected as it had to account for silt from two floods since 2018. The survey lasted about two-and-a-half months and estimated that 3.29 lakh cubic metres of silt needed to be removed. The silt will be deposited five kilometres away in the deep sea.

West Coast Dredging Company will carry out the dredging at a cost of ₹12.98 crores. It will cover 4.2 km of the river, from Kaduppini in Mankavu to the river mouth in Kothi, at a depth of 2.7 metres.

The silt accumulation in the river has disrupted its natural flow, which has, in turn, affected the Conolly canal that drains into it. The river was recently deemed the most polluted in the State, with its waters blackened by industrial effluents and decaying garbage. The silt buildup is particularly noticeable during low tides.

The dredging project, aimed at restoring the river’s natural flow and reducing recurring waterlogging in the city during the monsoon, has been in the works for decades. However, it faced delays as only a few companies were willing to take it up for the offered remuneration, forcing the tender process to be repeated several times.