2.3.2 Challenges and Opportunities

SPONGE COLLABORATIVE + WEAVING WITH WATER Team

MULLASSERY CANAL FRAMEWORK AND CANAL EDGE MASTERPLAN

2.3.2 Challenges and Opportunities

The following are potential challenges in implementing the community framework. 1. Regulating waste dumping and sewage outfalls in the canal: Currently, there is unregulated solid waste dumping and illegal sewer connections that empty into the canal. This needs to be mapped, monitored and regulated on a continuous basis, and a governance framework must be put in place to deter dumping. 2. Limited ability to influence future development through land acquisition: The project has been conceptualised and planned within the frame of reference to not promote any displacement or relocation or land acquisition. Delivering quality output with maximized impact within such a scenario is a challenge. 3. Need for political will and buy-in through a multilevel stakeholder perspective: Many of the community level interventions require political will and buy-in, which requires a multi-level stakeholder approach, including from civil society organisations, agencies such as the Kochi Metro Rail Limited, and the Cochin Smart City Mission.

Figure 47 - Waste dumping and pollution in the Mullassery Canal

Following are the key opportunity areas for realizing the community framework.

1. Formalising community groves and rekindling the connection to the canal for local residents: The

Padikathukulam colonies and the Karikkamuri neighbourhood along the canal have seen changes in neighbourhood character as a result of rapid urbanisation. There is an opportunity to reconnect these communities to the canal through the design of parklets and public spaces along the canal edge and by activating community groves as hyper local gathering spaces.There has also been a longstanding tradition of “sacred groves” in Kerala, which are protected forests in urban and rural areas, in which neighbouring communities act as guardians of the grove. This is a concept that can be readjusted in the form of

“community groves” on open spaces with community stewardship mechanisms put in place. 2. Activating open spaces as community gathering spaces: The open spaces along the canal - Jewish cemetery, Priyadarshini Park, PWD park, Marine drive, KMC waste collection site, and KSRTC complex - are all opportunities to expand the public realm, provide amenities such as public toilets, local markets, designated vending spaces to protect livelihoods, and heritage trails to boost the local economy through tourism. 3. Institutional capacity building: Layering onto existing institutional frameworks, civil society organisations and community bridges such as the Haritha karma sena and Kudumbashree, along with local residents and merchants’ associations to deal with solid waste management in the precinct, and exploring circular economies and resource paradigms. Knowledge and capacity building for implementing and maintaining the Mullassery Canal precinct framework can also be anchored through institutions such as St. Teresa’s college and Government Law College, both in terms of research and stakeholder engagement.