Cannoli Canal is a network of canals constructed in the year 1848 by the then British Collector of the Calicut province (in the pre-independent India under the British rule and the place was also known as Malabar then and present-day Kozhikode city), with the intention of connecting various places through canals enabling cheaper travel and transportation.
This was the main waterway for the cargo movement between Kochi and Calicut. Trade flourished through the Cannoli canal for more than a century. Places like Chavakkad, Ponnani and Kandassankadavu along the Canal also developed as towns and trade hubs along the canal.
The Canal connected the Korapuzha (also known as Elathur river) river in the north with, the Kallai River in the South, a distance of about 11 km thereby opening up further connectivity from Beypore (a seaport) to Badagara. The Cannel was constructed with the canal boundary walls built using crafted stones of specific dimensions.
The canal was an active waterway until the late seventies. Since then prolonged neglect resulted in slow but steady deterioration; the lining stones collapsed at many points; the unmindful public was dumping various kinds of waste resulting in silting, unwanted vegetation and a high level of pollution, reducing the water body and entirely restricting the movement of boats. Mr Santhosh from Mumbai says.
The dredging of the canal started in the Ponnani region of Malappuram district in Kerala finally bringing an end to the long-standing demand of the natives’ calls for Canal cleaning. It was a long pending demand to clean the canal by removing the tons of waste materials deposited in the canal and to make the water body, which connects Ponnani with the Kozhikode region, usable for the water transport facilities.
The overflowing canal had submerged many low-lying areas in the Ponnani region during the floods of 2018 and 2019. Environmentalists pointed out that the clogging of the canal due to the accumulation of plastic and other waste materials over the years had caused the overflowing and flood in turn. The work was started following the frequent demand from the part of MLAs who represent various assembly constituencies in coastal areas. Recently chief minister for the state, Mr Pinarayi Vijayan had informed Kerala (the southernmost state in the Indian Peninsula) Legislative assembly that the government has prepared a detailed action plan for the cleaning and dredging works of the canal. He had also informed that the pollution control board has been directed to prepare an action plan.
The move was in the backdrop of the complaint that the accumulation of waste materials posed a major threat to the hundreds of lives on the banks of the canal. Local MLA of Tanur, V Abdurahman had raised the issue in assembly and demanded the government to take a proper step to resolve the issue. Recently, a study on the pollution level of canal water was conducted using robotic technology. The study which was conducted as part of the ‘Clean Canoly’ project, had found that the pollution level of the canal water was serious and that the contaminated water will cause various diseases. The study report had warned that the issue would seriously affect the quality of water of drinking water sources near the canal.
Mr Abdurahman said that the ongoing cleaning process is aiming at a permanent solution for the pollution issues related to the canal water. “Government is planning to permanently resolve the issue and protect the canal as a major water body. Though there were efforts to clean the canal earlier, the projects were implemented as a temporary solution. But now we are planning a complete revival of the canal as a long-term project”, he said
With inputs from The Times of India.
