KOCHI: In a development which has drained the exchequer of taxpayers’ money, the Corporation has incurred a loss of `1.50 crore in the last year- and- a-half as a result of the recently unveiled tonnage scheme for transporting garbage and plastic waste to its Brahmapuram waste treatment plant. Corporation secretary A S Anuja divulged this to the council meeting held here on Saturday.
The secretary presented the details after Mayor Soumini Jain sought the details following the Opposition charge regarding the financial loss suffered by the civic body due to the new tonnage norms for waste removal. According to the details given by the secretary, compared to the previous year the Corporation spent an additional `65 lakh on waste transportation during the December- April period in 2017-18 . The report also said in 2016-17, the Corporation spent `1.53 crore on removing 33,820 tonne of garbage while it had to shell out `2.27 crore to remove the 36,904 tonne of waste in 2017-18.
“Massive corruption has now been revealed with the secretary revealing the financial loss to the civic body following the introduction of the Tonnage scheme. The Corporation should announce a Vigilance probe to identify those who looted the taxpayers’ money,” said K J Antony, Opposition leader. According to him, the council cannot foot the additional expense.
However, Jain was in no mood to oblige the Opposition call for a Vigilance probe. Instead she called for an investigation by the Local Self-Government Department(LSGD). Though the councillors demanded a satisfactory reply from the officers the latter’s inability to do so led to the councillors launching a no-holds barred on the officers. Deputy Mayor T J Vinod said the Tonnage scheme was prompted by frequent complaints against the previous system.