KASARAGOD: The Kanhangad municipality's efforts to rent out the 100-odd rooms in the bus stand complex hit a roadblock as the state government rejected its six-point proposal after squatting on it for 11 months.
The LDF-control municipal council had sought the government's approval to amend the bylaws of the Kanhangad bus stand and shopping complex to slash the security deposit for the shops to Rs 7 lakh from Rs 15 lakh. The municipality also sought the right to make changes to the bylaws without seeking government approval. "Except for that point, the government agreed to the rest of the proposal," said municipality secretary Roy Mathew.
The government cited the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994, to deny Kanhangad municipality the right to amend the bylaw of its establishments without the government's approval.
Now, the council would discuss the bylaws again on Friday (August 26) and resubmit the proposal to the Director of Urban Affairs.
More than the rejection, councillors are livid with the long time taken by the government to decide on the proposal. "The government could have taken a call on it in two days or two months. But it sat on the proposal for 11 months only to be rejected," said IUML councillor K K Jaffar. "It is also the state government's responsibility to ensure the municipality did not lose out on revenue," he said.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the bus stand on February 22, 2019. Except during the occasional public events organised by political parties and the government in the bus stand yard, the complex wears a deserted look.
Of the 108 rooms in the complex, 106 are lying vacant. Jaffar said the municipal council, led by the previous chairman V V Rameshan, erred in setting a high deposit amount of Rs 15 lakh for rooms on the ground floor and Rs 10 lakh on the first floor in the bylaws. The UDF councillors opposed it in the council and challenged it in the high court but lost in both the forums.
The municipality put up the shops for auction but attracted zero interest from traders. It tried two more times with the same result. "The security deposit was too high for a small trader in a small town," Jaffar said.
Then the municipal council decided to lower the deposit amount to Rs 7 lakh. On September 17, 2021, the council approved the new bylaw and sent it to the Director of Urban Affairs for approval. "At every council, when he raises the matter, the chairperson assures us that the proposal was before the government and a favourable outcome is expected," he said. But after 11 months, the government sent back the proposal, and Kanhangad municipality is back to square one.
The municipality had taken a loan of Rs 5 crore from Hudco to build the bus stand complex and pays Rs 18 lakh every three months towards repayment. The municipality dips into its 'own fund' to repay the debt. There is almost zero income from the bus stand.
The council would revise the bylaw again on Friday and send it to the government. "Hope the government will not take another year to take a call on it," said Jaffar.