COIMBATORE: Despite the hue and cry from the public about the haphazard implementation of various state and central government schemes, Coimbatore Municipal Corporation has been honoured as the best performing corporation in the state outweighing nine other municipal corporations in the state, including Chennai.

City mayor SM Velusamy received the honour citation from the chief minister J Jayalalithaa at the state government function held in Chennai on Wednesday. The corporation has also been awarded a cash prize of Rs25lakhs for its achievement.

"It is a matter of great pride and honour for Coimbatore Corporation," said T K Ponnusamy, commissioner, Coimbatore Corporation. According to senior corporation officials, what clinched the honour for the corporation was the high revenue collection, which came to around 88%. The chief minister's office had sent a 15 point questionnaire to the municipal corporation officials a few weeks back which was to be sent back after including the major achievements of the civic body from all departments.

Surprisingly, the record of the JnNURM schemes was also part of the evaluation format including the implementation of the e-governance scheme and the restoration of roads. The solid waste management project of the city corporation was also included as a major achievement of the corporation. The officials claimed that JnNURM projects were only about 20% complete during the term of the previous council and it picked up pace after the new council took over in October last. "The ongoing Geographical Information Survey ( GIS) project was also included in the list of achievements of the corporation," said another official.
The city corporation has called for an emergency meeting of the council of its elected representatives on Thursday to make an official announcement of the achievement.