KOCHI: Though Ernakulam district generates a tax revenue of 65 per cent compared to the 35 per cent generated by other districts in the state, fund allocation from the state government is not adequate for the district to meets its requirements. According to Hibi Eden MLA, Ernakulam district does not get the required fund allocation from the government to meet even the basic requirements of the district.
“Lack of vision while planning development projects and Ernakulam being below sea-level are the major reasons behind insufficient fund allocation,” he said. Hibi added Ernakulam being a city with a major Metro project and business hubs, lacks proper attention from the state government. “Facilities like underpasses, elevated highways in many areas, including Gosree Islands, must come up as early as possible to avoid traffic congestions in many parts of the district. There are ‘lobbies’ operating in higher levels which snatch our funds and divert it to other districts like Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur,” he said.
Kochi being an industrial-business hub, one of the viable solutions to reduce traffic congestion is by constructing coastal highways. “Coastal highways along the stretch of Azhikode-Munambam bridge to Vypin and Fort Kochi-Kannamaly segment will reduce major traffic snarls. The proposal for an underpass along the Kakkanad Civil Line Road was also submitted earlier, but so far it has received no clearance,” said V K Ebrahim Kunju MLA, Kalamassery constituency.
Thrikkakara MLA P T Thomas also highlighted Kochi’s need to have elevated highways and National Highway (NH) bypasses. “We will consider the matter seriously and present it in the Lok Sabha,” he said.
“Rather than focusing on the development of Ernakulam district alone, other districts also deserve attention as far as the state is concerned. It is unfair to focus only on Kochi.
The revenue garnered from Ernakulam district benefits other districts as well. A proper development plan must be fixed by the district and the state government has to focus on those areas. The government can take up the issue and allocate proper funds required for the development,” said S Sharma, MLA of Vypin and former Fisheries Minister.
Meanwhile, Asha Sanil, Ernakulam district panchayat president, said they are utilising 80 per cent of the funds allocated to them by the state government for 2017-2018. “For maintenance works, including roads and bridges, R55 crore has been allocated and about 80 per cent of the money is spent on those works. Since tax revenues are not generated by panchayats, we used to get 10 per cent enhance amount every year from the state government for the development and maintenance work,” she said.