The development work at the Koyilandy harbour is going on at a snail’s pace despite people’s representatives from the area claiming frequent intervention on their part to speed up the project. Even after a year, filling work for the proposed wharf is yet to be completed, delaying the project further. Though the harbour engineering wing claims adverse weather as the primary hindrance, political activists from the area are of the view that it is the acute shortage of funds and lack of proper follow-up action on the part of the local administration that prevent the development of the harbour. They also allege that the construction of the wharf, which began in 2015, has reached nowhere, thanks to sluggish work. Meanwhile, representatives of fishermen’s organisations said the development work undertaken at the harbour was not being sustained. The fishermen here have no standard auction hall, boat yards, and facilities to keep the catch. And, they have been managing with limited facilities, hoping that the project will become a reality soon, they say. The Koyilandy harbour development work formally began in 2007 with a mission to provide better facilities to local fishermen. The project, which was approved by both by the Central and State governments, was expected to help around 50,000 fishermen from the region. With frequent work disruptions, the estimate of the project has been revised several times in the last eight years. When the work was launched, the estimate was Rs.34 crore. According to the latest estimate, the total amount required to complete the project will be around Rs.62 crore. Koyilandy MLA K. Dasan, who submitted the proposal on developing the harbour, says there are no technical hurdles for the completion of the project, but, the projected work could be executed only with the completion of the ongoing wharf construction work. He claims that the filling work was on in full swing. The State government has sanctioned Rs.1.6 crore for the basic development work, he added.
2016, The Hindu