KOCHI: The Corporation council meeting on Saturday witnessed uproarious scenes with the ruling and Opposition members engaged in heated debate on the amount to be collected from the contractors for repairing roads to be dug up as part of the city gas project. While members from the ruling UDF insisted on collecting the amount fixed by the Corporation, Opposition councillors demanded the rate fixed by the PWD for repair work should be charged.Public works standing committee chairman P A Harris said the amount promised by Adani Group will not be sufficient for repairing the 894-km road to be dug up for the project. However, CPM parliamentary party leader in the council V P Chandran claimed the Corporation was attempting to sabotage the government project, which would benefit the common man in the city.
Opposition leader K J Antony demanded the project should be implemented without causing any loss to the Corporation.Deputy Mayor T J Vinod flayed the CPM councillors’ stand over the corporation digging up the roads tarred by KMRL. He said the CPM protest march to the Corporation on September 20 is a politically motivated one. The KMRL and the Corporation had spent `30 and `33 crore respectively on getting the roads tarred. He reiterated the ruling combine’s stand on the PWD rates for road repair in connection with the city gas project being totally unacceptable.
Mayor Soumini Jain said the corporation was not against the city gas project. However, it should not incur any loss on account of the project. The Mayor said a committee will be constituted to study the loss of revenue to the Corporation in the event of the PWD rates being accepted. This elicited vociferous protest from the Opposition members.