The budget discussion session of the Kochi Corporation held on Monday turned out to be a stormy one with the Opposition councillors alleging that the budget presented by Deputy Mayor B Bhadra the other day has failed to address the basic issues of the city, including the potable water crisis and solid waste management.

The Opposition members alleged that the budget was prepared without discussing the proposals at the Finance Standing Committee or the steering committee meeting.

However, the Congress ‘I’ group Councillors stayed away from the discussions and remained silent throughout the session as the Mayor and his team of ‘A’ faction councillors tried to defend the budget proposals. Opposition councillor M P Maheshkumar said that most of the proposals had been included in the budget without any discussions at the Finance Standing Committee meeting. “Even in the case of the Brahmapuram Solid Waste Treatment Plant, the Mayor has misled the council by displaying some images of the garden in front of the plant. Heaps of garbage has been piled up at the plant, including plastic trash,” Maheshkumar said after tabling the images taken by the Opposition councillors.

Opposition leader K J Jacob alleged that though the budget has mooted some women-friendly projects under the ‘Sabala’ scheme, no specific fund allocation has been made in the budget.

Left Councillors M Anil Kumar, K N Sunil Kumar, C A Shakeer and P S Prakash also spoke. From the ruling front, Soumini Jain, R Thyagarajan, Asha Pious, Essy Joseph and Delina Pinheiro participated in the discussion.

The budget will be passed on Tuesday. 14 members of the Congress-I group are not likely to vote against the budget even if the Opposition demands a voting.