THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The City Corporation Council that met here on Tuesday has pinned its hopes on the State Coordination Committee meeting to discuss Plan implementation scheduled for Wednesday to get an extension of the Plan period. Following a resolution presented in the Council by Works Standing Committee chairperson V S Padmakumar, an all-party delegation later visited the Chief Minister and the Urban Affairs Minister seeking three months’ extension to complete the Plan process.
Meanwhile, in the Council, Padmakumar said that there were a total of 1,033 projects submitted by the Corporation, of which some 208 were rejected by the DPC. Later, they were revised and submitted again, but delay in getting approval had caused more problems. Some 81 projects were approved during the last few days only.
BJP leader P Asok Kumar said that the DPC should have sent a reply on the revised projects in 20 days, but that did not happen, resulting in the long delay.
Bidding for Markets
Deputy Mayor G Happykumar said that the Corporation, starting this year, would ask the bidders who take part in the auction of running its markets and other public centres, to remit the full amount by September or quit the auction. He was replying to the allegation from councillors that the bidders were making huge dues and ultimately moving court to get exemption in the total dues.
Earlier, the bidding period lasted four years, but the new Council had made it one year, the Deputy Mayor said.
High-mast Lamps
The Council witnessed a ruckus when the Works Standing Committee chairman presented an agenda on high-mast lights which the UDF said came under Town Planning and not Works. They alleged that Padmakumar was snatching the right of the Town Planning Chairperson, which happened to be Congress’s Vanaja Rajendra Babu, and that it was an act of sidelining the lone Standing Committee of the UDF.
However, the Deputy Mayor said that high-mast lights also required the sanction of the Electricity Working Group chairman, who happened to be the Works Committee chairperson.