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New chairpersons of three MC sub-panels elected unanimously

Friday, 12 April 2013 00:00 administrator
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The Indian Express                     12.04.2013

New chairpersons of three MC sub-panels elected unanimously

After initial tussles, the chairpersons of the three sub-committees of the Municipal Corporation were elected unanimously. While for two sub-committees, nominated councillors were named as chairpersons, a Congress councillor will be heading the third sub-committee.

Congress councillor Sat Parkash Aggarwal was elected the chairman of the Roads Committee. Dr Shagufta Parveen will be the chairperson of the Water Supply and Sewerage Disposal Committee while Babu Lal will be the chairman of House Tax Assessment Committee.

The run-up to the elections witnessed tussles in the MC over the post of chairperson for the Water Supply and Sewerage Disposal Committee. Nominated councillor Surinder Bahga filed his nomination against councillor Dr Shagufta Parveen. However on Wednesday, Bahga withdrew his nomination following which Dr Parveen was unanimously elected. She was the chosen candidate of the Congress and nominated councillors.

Congress councillor Sat Prakash Aggarwal, who was in the race to be named the mayoral candidate by the party but was overlooked, was made chairman of the Roads Committee. Aggarwal had reportedly been miffed at not having been considered to be made member of Finance and Contract Committee as well.

With the elected representatives generally wary of being chairperson of the House Tax Committee, a nominated councillor was put at the helm. It was the nominated councillors who had proposed the agenda for imposition of the house tax.

The notification for another nine committees by the UT Administration is awaited.

 

Streetlights: judge flays Corporation for inaction

Thursday, 11 April 2013 00:00 administrator
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The Hindu                         11.04.2013

Streetlights: judge flays Corporation for inaction

Krishnadas Rajagopal

District Labour Court Judge S.H. Panchapakesan on Wednesday lashed out at the Kozhikode Corporation for its ‘total inaction’ to a Lok Adalat order he passed almost three months back seeking the civic body’s co-operation to introduce solar-powered streetlights to save taxpayers’ money.

Countering the judge’s accusation, Mayor A.K. Premajam reasoned that projects are implemented by following “procedural formalities” and after the 75-member Corporation Council takes a final call.

A Lok Adalat presided by the judge on January 9, after a special hearing attended by the Kozhikode Corporation Secretary and senior officials, had sought the civic body to act in a time-bound manner and submit a detailed project to use solar-powered LED streetlights.

The Adalat was convened after the Kozhikode District Legal Services Authority received a public interest complaint from Verghese Mathew, an associate professor with Malabar Christian College here, about the frequent power outages across the district.

“All that I had asked from the Corporation was to present their expense account to check how much they spend on their electricity bills. No response. Three months later, total inaction. They say they have no free time,” Mr. Panchapakesan told The Hindu . Earlier in the day, at a public meet, in an emotionally-charged speech interrupted by repeated power cuts, the judge gave full vent to his disappointment at the way his order was shabbily treated by the civic body.

“I had spoken to the Mayor about installing 36Watt solar-powered LED streetlamps and even presented this matter before the Corporation Council,” Mr. Mathew said when contacted.

“I told the council that the project can be launched with the installation of one solar streetlight in the city at a vantage point such as near the Town Hall or on the Thondayad-Malaparamba highway where accidents are frequent. I had informed the Corporation that the civic authority need not shell out the money for the installation and sponsors are ready in return for advertisement space on the lamp post. There is no response from the Corporation so far,” he said. The Corporation’s annual budget for 2012-13 shows that lighting up the city streets alone costs the civic body a whopping Rs.2.55 crore. “In principle, we agree with the installation of solar-powered streetlights, but there are procedural formalities to be followed,” Mayor Premajam said.

‘All that I had asked from the Corporation was to present their expense account to check how much they spend on their electricity bills. No response.’

 

Will build parking complex at Khan Market, but must get land at subsidised rate: NDMC

Thursday, 11 April 2013 00:00 administrator
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The Indian Express                        11.04.2013

Will build parking complex at Khan Market, but must get land at subsidised rate: NDMC

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on Wednesday took a stand on the parking issue in Khan Market and said it will accept land allotment from the Land and Development Office (L&DO) only if it is given at a subsidised rate.

According to the proposal approved by the NDMC, the land should be given at a rate similar to that given for constructing multi-level parking facilities in Sarojini Nagar Market and on Baba Kharag Singh Marg.

"The L&DO should consider the fact that no part of the parking will be used for commercial activities and, therefore, to make it financially viable, NDMC should be given the land for Khan Market parking at a rate similar to that of Sarojini Nagar and BKS Marg parking," the proposal approved by the council stated.

The proposal also said till the start of construction of parking facility, the plot will be used as open paid parking either through contractor or on a Bhagidari basis. The council will also inform the High Court of its decision.

The parking issue began when Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), a body appointed by the Supreme Court, made the parking at Khan Market a paid one, an NDMC official said.

"Earlier, no parking fee was charged for open spaces, which were with the NDMC. After advice from EPCA, 5,700 sqm of land was offered for paid parking. Khan Market Traders' Association opposed this move and filed a writ petition in the High Court.

"The court did not agree with traders. It suggested that the association pay NDMC Rs 5.34 lakh per month and run the parking as free," an NDMC official said.

"But as parking space became a need for the area, NDMC requested L&DO to provide a plot where multi-level parking can be constructed. L&DO allotted a plot of 4972.5 sqm on March 4, 2013," the official said.

For this plot, L&DO asked NDMC to pay Rs 28,980 per sqm. The total amount comes to Rs 14.77 crore. Objecting to this, NDMC requested L&DO to give land on rates similar to those in other parking sites. Sarojini Nagar was given land at Rs 11,000 per acre with 5 per cent ground rent. BKS Marg paid Rs 10,000 per acre. 

Last Updated on Friday, 12 April 2013 09:55
 
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