COIMBATORE: Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation’s (CCMC) monthly council meeting was held at Victoria Hall on Friday. It was presided by Mayor K Ranganayaki.
Stating that they were given the resolution copies on Thursday night, several councillors opposed them, and AIADMK councillors walked out.
Finance and taxation committee chairperson V B Mubasheera justified the delay, citing the workload of officials, and work that needs approval.
Later, 21 councillors, including some from the DMK and its allies, led by Ward 12 councillor Ramamoorthy of CPI, submitted a letter to the mayor and commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran regarding the tax hike.
They demanded that the state government withdraw the six per cent yearly hike of property taxes, reduce the overall taxes by 50%, and refrain from levying a 1% fine for late tax payments. In reply, the mayor said that she has written a letter to the municipal administration minister in this regard.
The civic body, which was struggling to find a potential player for the SWM works for the past 3 months, has now found a private firm based out in Chennai and is all set to give the work order soon.
After a few councillors raised concerns over garbage trucks and other vehicles provided by the current private firm being damaged, Prabakaran said the firm will hand over all the vehicles only after obtaining fitness certificate (FC). He also revealed that the new firm will bring in around 1,100 to 1,200 BOVs (Battery Operated Vehicles) for door-to-door collection of garbage across the city.
Apart from that, several councillors from Kavundampalayam strongly opposed the civic body’s proposal to set up a garbage transfer station at the old dumpyard campus, citing foul odour and people’s strong opposition.
Councillor Baby Sudha, hit out at the mayor for passing resolutions without listening to their opinions and taking decisions on her own. She and other councillors demanded to postpone the resolution for constructing the transfer station. However, their request was rejected, and the mayor said all resolutions from 1 to 132 have been passed in the council.