No: of voters - 3500

Kochangadi division, which was reserved for women last year, is in the general category this year. The area has many labourers working in the fishing harbour. A part of the Jew Town is also in this division.  Potable water shortage is the main problem here. Housing is another issue to reckon with. “Potable water shortage is definitely the biggest problem here. And this will be solved only when the second zone of the Department For International Development (DFID) project is implemented,” says councillor Sunitha Ashraf.

“We had approached the court in this regard. Hopefully it will be implemented soon. At the moment, we are providing water in tanker lorries.”

Division fund was used for lighting and cleaning drainage. Roads were tarred using various funds.  She says that around 90 houses were sanctioned under the various housing schemes like Valmiki Ambedkar Awaz Yojana (VAMBAY), Kerala State Urban Development Project (KSUDP) and EMS Housing Scheme. 40 of these houses have already been handed over. According to the councillor, some works like the renovation of the slaughter house were carried out with

` 68.5 lakh allocated in the budget. A shopping complex was also built at Chakkamadam with the ` 1 crore 5 lakh allotted in the Corporation fund. “PVC pipes were put in the place of corrugated pipes. Changing the old pipes supplying water to the area will solve the problem fully.”

According to the residents, water shortage is the main problem in the area. They say that the problem of contaminated water coming through the pipeline aggravates the problem. Residents say that housing for the homeless is something that the authorities must pay special interest to.

Councillor -  Shyamala S Prabhu (BJP)

No: of voters - 6500

An area with a sizable Gowda Saraswat Brahmin population, Cheralai has supported BJP for the last several polls. The division that was reserved for women in the last elections is in the general category in the coming local elections. 

Shyamala S Prabhu of the BJP has won this seat in both general and reserved categories. Like the rest of West Kochi, potable water shortage, water logging and slum development are the main issues here too. “The division fund was utilised mainly for lighting, drainage silt removal and for putting concrete slabs over a large area of drainage to make footpaths. All the corrugated and damaged pipes were replaced to avoid water contamination. Division fund and additional corporation funds were used to level and tar the roads to avoid waterlogging,” says Shyamala. She claims that manholes were opened to the Manthara Boundary Canal to avoid water logging in many areas like the Kuvappadam Junction, Kilikkar Road Junction, and Gujarat Road. “This work was carried out with ` 31 lakh given from the Corporation,” she says.

However, the councillor admits that potable water shortage is a major problem in areas like the Ayyankar Madam, Sasta Nagar, Ilayachan Road, Kappalandimukku, Kannadiparambu and Onpathumuri. Tanker lorries provide water to these areas. “Slum development was carried out mainly with Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project (KSUDP) fund,” says the councillor.  She adds that road repair, sanitation work and drainage maintenance was also carried out in her ward. “A total of 25 houses were built under the Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) scheme. Waste management is efficient. Many cottage industries were started as part of women’s empowerment activities. The Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) fund was utilised for this purpose.” However, despite all the development activities, the residents say that potable water shortage still plagues the area. The councillor agrees. “The water shortage problem will be solved only when the second zone of the Department For International Development (DFID) project is implemented.” Much more needs to be done for the development of slums. According to some residents from the slums in the ward, housing for the homeless and landless is another big issue  that the ward has been facing since long.