The budget presented by Deputy Mayor and chairperson of Finance standing committee, Rakhi Ravikumar on Friday had over 100 projects that touch every aspect of city development.‘Sneha Sadanam’ project envisages construction of 500 houses under Life Mission at Malamukal and Kattayikonam
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Corporation presented the budget for the financial year 2018-19 with a focus on basic infrastructure requirement of the city. The budget presented by Deputy Mayor and chairperson of Finance standing committee, Rakhi Ravikumar on Friday had over 100 projects that touch every aspect of city development. She plans to spend Rs 1,099 crore and expects a revenue of Rs 1,163 crore for the coming fiscal.
‘Sneha Sadanam’ project envisages construction of 500 houses under Life Mission at Malamukal and Kattayikonam. The project supports the completion of 1,500 houses under various stages of development. It involves an expenditure of Rs 65 crore.The coastal areas in the city were the worst affected by cyclone Ockhi. The Corporation will spend Rs 20 crore in the area for the education of children, buying tools, health care, rehabilitation centres, a memorial. a disaster management centre etc. Another Rs 3 crore will be spent on improving infrastructure in schools.
There are provisions in the budget for creating hospital infrastructure. From dialysis units in the health centre at Pangappara, accommodation facility for bystanders of patients admitted at MCH, food for patients at General Hospital, veterinary centre at Kattela, low coast medical shops,For thousands of people alighting at the railway station and the central depot of KSRTC, crossing the road is a harrowing task. A skywalk will be constructed for hassle-free movement. The stretch between the overbridge and Thampanoor will be properly lit and brought under camera surveillance. It has already made plans to construct skywalks at Vazhuthacaud, Pattom and East Fort. Multi-level parking facility will be set up at Medical College, Corporation office and Putharikandom.
The Corporation will organise open doubledecker bus tours for visitors and set up a ‘Trivandrum Eye’, a giant wheel in the lines of London Eye at Madavoorpara. It has however dropped last year’s proposal to convert the controversial Vilappilsala land to an amusement park.
With an aim to make the city hunger-free a popular eatery named ‘Namasthe Ananthapuri’ will be started at a cost of Rs 2 crore. Besides this, the Corporation will start ‘Ananthapuri Cafe’ with Kudumbashree.
Water treatment plant at Aruvikara, health brigade to spread awareness, sewerage line in coastal areas, sewerage treatment plant at MCH and 19 public comfort stations are the bother infrastructure projects that have been provided allocations in the budget. Some of the long pending projects such the slaughterhouse and Mayor’s Bhavan found allocation in this budget as well.
Mayor V K Prasanth and his deputy tried to explain the projects announced in the budget were realistic with a caveat that the actual implementation could prolong for more than a year. Deputy Mayor said the budget proposals were vision document and implementation could be affected due to various factors.
Opposition flays budget
Opposition council members from BJP and UDF criticised the budget for being unrealistic. “It is not a practical budget. There is no sufficient allocation for basic requirements in the city. Instead, all we can see are some repetitions,” said Parliamentary party leader of BJP V G Girikumar. UDF leader Anil Kumar D said the budget proposals are deceiving. “All they have done in the past two-and-half years is road maintenance and nothing else,” he said. UDF councilors hinted they will oppose the budget along with BJP.
Five Star Auto-Taxi
Imagine rating your ride in an auto, just like the services of different cab aggregators. The Corporation has earmarked a whopping Rs 10 lakh for five-star auto taxi services. The project will have an app which can be used to rate drivers. The ratings range from -5 to 5.