Alappuzha/Alleppey:Developments,Photos & Discussions

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Originally Posted by amalmohan

Alleppey Port, which was Travancore primary port, before development of Kochi Port

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The success of the Alappuzha experiment has prompted the government to bring geo-textile production within the ambit of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in all the districts of the state.

As of now, geo-textile production is part of MGNREGS in Alappuzha only. The government has set an ambitious target of Rs 850 crore for geo-textile export this year.

The project will begin in the rural areas of Thiruvananthapuram district in the first week of February. Realising its commercial potential, the government has earmarked a large chunk of the MGNREGS funds, 32 percent, for geo-textile production.

Geo-textiles, made up of fibers extracted from coconut husk, appear to have worked wonders in Alappuzha.

"It was used to construct bunds and roads in various parts of Kuttanad and it can effectively check soil erosion," a senior Local Self Government department official said.

However, it was in Sabarimala that geo-textiles stitched together its first success story. The badly maintained roads there changed into model roads after the application of geo-textiles.

“It was this that made us think of using geo-textiles in Alappuzha," the official said. The government is planning to use geo-textiles in a big way in road development.

The MGNREGS funds allotted to panchayats will be used to purchase coir and bamboo from the Coir Board,”the official said.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chann...cess-story-198

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The Kerala Water Authority informed an Assembly Committee here on Tuesday that the Alappuzha Drinking Water Project, envisaged to provide drinking water to Alappuzha municipality and eight surrounding panchayats, would be ready for commissioning by 2013.

The Assembly Committee, led by Chairman V.S. Sunil Kumar, MLA, was reviewing the progress of the project at the collectorate here. KWA officials said the project was being delayed due to a few technical snags that could be solved with the intervention of the government.

The digging of roads to lay pipelines had faced opposition from the National Highways Authority of India, and this required urgent intervention by the government. Otherwise, according to the officials, the work was progressing smoothly with the water purification plant at Karumadi being completed and another raw water treatment plant to be tendered by February 28.

The committee, which said a 104 per cent tender excess for the Karumadi plant would be investigated, also sought to know why crucial projects taken up by the KWA were lagging behind schedule. A similar drinking water project at Cherthala, implemented with financial assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency should have been completed in 2003 but was completed only in 2012. This trend had to go, the committee said.

Apart from Mr. Sunil Kumar, the committee comprised A. Pradeep Kumar, K. Kunjiraman, James Mathew and Ludy Luis, MLAs.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/...cle2808754.ece

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The second edition of the highly successful international coir festival launched last year will be held at the EMS Stadium, Alappuzha from February 4 to 9.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Coir Development Director K. Madanan said Coir Kerala 2012, as the event had been named, would be an exhibition cum sale event divided widely on four themes, which would be knowledge dissemination and interaction, development, marketing and coir. There would be separate international and national pavilions.

Already, over 60 international delegates had assured of their presence while 110 delegates from other Indian states had registered themselves. The number of national delegates was expected to go above 200 and a majority of the 225 stalls that hade been readied for the event were already booked, the official said.

Recalling the overwhelming success of the event held last year, Mr. Madanan said whatever initial apprehensions that international buyers had were done away with last year itself, which was why there was an increased interest in the event this time around. The coir sector here too had changed over the last one year, with lots of diversification coming in. Also, the sector had stepped beyond its traditional markets to countries where there were hitherto no coir products available at all. These, including the Latin American countries and those in Africa, were now turning out to be highly potential areas for marketing and country-specific products were being identified.

The coir festival, which would be coordinated by the National Coir Research and Management Institute (NCMRI) would have its welcome committee office inaugurated on January 21 by Union Minister of State for Power K.C. Venugopal in the presence of G. Sudhakaran, MLA.

A number of competitions and cultural programmes too were being organized alongside the event, he said, adding that a number of national and international seminars too would be part of the event.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/...cle2817463.ece

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ALAPPUZHA: A century ago, Alappuzha was the business capital of Travancore, with vessels from Mumbai, Surat and Karachi arriving in the port with merchandise. The traders exported cardamom, black pepper, nutmeg, copra and other spices and coir, making good profits. The country boats carried coir and spices to the port through the canal in the town.
But, now the port has become a thing of the past, with Alappuzha’s attraction shifting only to the backwaters and houseboats hovering in the Punnamada Lake.
The canal carrying the waste water from the town has now turned into a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The credit for developing Alappuzha into a business spot goes to Raja Kesavadas, Diwan of the erstwhile princely state of Travancore. Kesavadas, the chief architect of Alappuzha, turned the port city into an acclaimed� destination two centuries ago. He built a port in the Alappuzha beach area.
The sea bridge that was built during his time is the only remains of the ancient port city.� He built two canals - the Commercial canal and the Vadai canal - connecting the port and the Punnamada Lake. The canals made it easy for the country boats from the eastern parts of Travancore to travel to the port. With the development of the port came hundreds of industrial units on the banks of the canals. Most of the units were owned by merchants from other parts of the country.
After Independence and the formation of Kerala state, the industrial units disappeared one by one. The coir-based industries were trapped in debt and the lustre of the port city began to decline.
The entrepreneurs abandoned the industries and returned to their places. Only a few units remained in Alappuzha. The historians attribute the emergence of Kochi port to the fall of the Alappuzha port. Even the rulers did not take any steps to regain the lost glory of the port.
“The rulers of modern Alappuzha forgot to preserve the old sea bridge which carries the legacy of the port city,” said Kallelil Raghavan Pillai, a retired headmaster of the SDV HSS.
The bridge is in a neglected state. The governments spent crores of rupees for the development of Alappuzha beach and canals. But they have not yet fulfilled the dreams of the people. The coir industry, the backbone of Alappuzha, is fighting for survival,” Pillai said.
“The Pierce and Lesley Company, which was one of the landmarks of the city during my childhood days, has now turned into the municipal ground,” Pillai said. “During election time, the politicians make promises that they would revive the port. However,after the elections, they forget it,” Pillai said.
The beautification of the beach was completed recently using crores of rupees from the tsunami fund. But, the authorities neglected the reconstruction of the sea bridge. Though the canal beautification was carried out spending crores of rupees, now it is in a neglected state.
The tiled steps, now covered with grass and waste materials, have become a resting place of anti-social elements. “The District Congress Committee has submitted a proposal to reconstruct the sea bridge. A meeting will be held on January 30 to discuss the issue with the Chief Minister,” said DCC president A A Shukkoor.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/will-alap...24-60-116.html

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