The Hindu 25.01.2011
Civic body identifies land for housing scheme
Government to transfer land to Corporation: Mayor
In a move aimed at getting the long- delayed EMS housing scheme off the
ground, the City Corporation has started identifying land to construct
houses for financially backward sections.
Mayor K. Chandrika told the Corporation Council here on
Monday that two plots, five acres at Kalladimukham and 50 cents at
Thirumala, had been identified.
She said the land would be utilised to construct houses
or apartment complexes for the beneficiaries. She was responding to
charges raised by the Opposition benches that the scheme had failed to
take off because many of the beneficiaries could not afford to purchase
land to construct houses.
Terming the scheme a flop, UDF councillors said the
amount earmarked for purchase of land was ridiculously inadequate in the
capital city.
Ambalathara ward councillor A. Mujib Rahman said the
Corporation could not hope to implement the scheme with the Rs.50,000
assistance for beneficiaries to buy land. “It would tantamount to
mocking a great man like EMS,” he said.
The Mayor said the Centre of Science and Technology for
Rural Development (COSTFORD) had been asked to prepare a housing plan
for the site at Kalladimukham. The government had agreed to transfer the
land to the Corporation. The file had been sent to the District
Collector for approval, she added.
The Mayor said the Corporation was trying to identify more land in the city to construct houses under the scheme.
Talking to The Hindu, Ms. Chandrika said the
project at Kalladimukham would not affect the proposed construction of a
rehabilitation centre for the destitute at the site. The two projects
can coexist, she said. “Simultaneously, we are trying to expedite the
construction of houses under the BSUP (Basic Services for the Urban
Poor) scheme,” she said.
Energy meters
The Mayor told the Council that the Corporation would
have to think of installing energy meters for streetlights in the city.
She was responding to complaints raised by councillors that the local
body was forced to shell out a huge amount as electricity bill, for
streetlights that were not functional.
The meeting adopted a resolution urging the government
and the Power Minister to take up steps to complete the electrification
and street-lighting works for which the Corporation had remitted funds
with the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB).
Moving the resolution, Works standing committee chairman
V.S. Padmakumar said the KSEB had spent only Rs.15.91 lakh against a
deposit of Rs.1.85 crore for various works.
The Mayor proposed a ward-level joint inspection
involving representatives of the Corporation and KSEB, to identify the
works yet to be taken up. She promised to take up the issue with the
Power Minister and convene a meeting of KSEB officials to discuss the
matter.
Action sought
The council adopted a resolution urging the Railway
Board for immediate action to check the discharge of solid waste into
the Amayizhanjan canal from the Central Railway Station at Thampanoor.
Moving the resolution, Sreekanteswaram ward councillor Rajendran Nair
said railway contractors were dumping large quantities of plastic and
glass into the canal.
This, he said, had led to stagnation of water in the
canal, providing a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The resolution also
called on the Railway Board to provide fencing for the canal from
Pazhavangady to Sreekanteswaram to prevent dumping of garbage.
The council approved the constitution of a five-member
committee headed by the Mayor to expedite the processing of applications
for building permits.
The committee including the Deputy Mayor, Works standing
committee chairman, Corporation Secretary and Town Planning Officer,
will meet every second Saturday to dispose of pending applications. The
panel was set up on a direction from the government.
The meeting also ratified the constitution of a Spatial
Integration Committee chaired by the Mayor. The committee will provide
inputs to the Chief Town Planner for the preparation of a master plan
for the district. Apart from the Deputy Mayor, the Works standing
committee chairman, Corporation Secretary and Corporation Engineer, the
panel also includes former Chief Town Planner A. Kasturirangan,
architects N. Mahesh, P.B. Sajan and Sankar and representatives from the
departments of Agriculture, Planning, IT, Social Welfare, Fisheries,
Housing and Health, Kerala Water Authority as well as the Centre for
Environment Development.
Poor garbage collection
Councillors representing the peripheral wards annexed
from the suburban panchayats complained that the Corporation had made no
arrangement to collect garbage from the outlying areas.
They said the absence of garbage trucks was hindering the transport of solid waste to local disposal sites.
The Mayor informed the meeting that the Corporation was
working on a Clean City programme focussing on solid waste disposal at
points of generation.
“We are initiating talks with apartment owners and hoteliers to seek their cooperation,” she said. S
he said a team of councillors and officials from the
Corporation would be leaving for Kozhikode shortly to study the
operation of a plastic recycling plant there.
