The Hindu 20.04.2010
Call to expedite extension of Corporation boundaries
Staff Reporter
| UDF members oppose motion in council |
Proposal approved by Cabinet in November 2009
Move will hamper progress, says Opposition
Kozhikode: The City Corporation Council on Monday urged the State government to speed up the process of extending the Corporation boundaries by including three grama panchayats — Elathur, Cheruvannur-Nallalam and Beypore.
At a special meeting to discuss the issue, the Council adopted a resolution asking the government to implement the proposal that had been approved by the Cabinet in November, 2009. However, the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) councillors opposed the resolution, saying that the government had a hidden agenda behind the move.
Voting
The resolution was put to vote and was passed with 38 councillors supporting it. Ten members, including three Janata Dal (Secular) members of the faction led by M.P. Veerendrakumar, opposed the motion. Mayor M. Bhaskaran chaired the session.
Taking part in the deliberations, Mr. Bhaskaran said the decision to extend the boundaries of the Corporation would improve the infrastructure in the neighbouring civic bodies. Both Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram had extended their boundaries by merging grama panchayats.
(The city area will increase from the existing 84.23 sq.km to 118.2 sq.km. Beypore has an area of 10.2 sq.km; Cheruvannur-Nallalam 10.3 sq.km and Elathur, 13.5 sq.km. The population of the city stood at 4,36,556 as per the 2001 census, and it will increase to more than six lakh after the amalgamation of the three grama panchayats. Beypore has a population of 66,895; Cheruvannur-Nallalam 57,110 and Elathur, 41,326).
Initial approval
He said the UDF State leaders had approved the decision to merge the grama panchayats.
They had not opposed the decision when the matter came up for discussion in the Assembly. Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy saw the development prospects of Kozhikode. But here the local leaders were attempting the scuttle the proposal, the Mayor said.
Deputy Mayor P.T. Abdul Latheef said Cheruvannur-Nallalam grama panchayat should have been merged with the Corporation municipality long ago when the city limits had been extended by adding areas such as Chevayur, Kovoor and Kottuli in 1962. Now, all the areas in the city limits had developed, but Cheruvannur-Nallalam being an industrial area was yet to improve infrastructure facilities, he said.
Disagreeing with him, Opposition Leader in the Council P. Mamukoya Haji pointed out that development was yet to reach all the 28 wards that had been merged with the Corporation earlier. Adding more grama panchayats to the city would result in over burdening the residents of these areas.
The shortage of staff at the Corporation office had affected municipal governance. The proposal for merger had not been discussed with these grama panchayats. The State government had also not discussed the matter with the Corporation, Mr. Mamukoya said.
