MADURAI: The AIADMK-ruled
Madurai city corporation on Monday unveiled in its 2013-14 budget a
scheme named ‘AMMA Thittam’ – Azhagia Madurai MAanagar (Beautiful
Madurai City Scheme) – to take up grievance redressal, mass cleaning,
repair and maintenance works in all the 100 wards. The novel scheme
bearing an acronym akin to the popular name, Amma, of party supremo and
Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, cheered the AIADMK councillors.

Unveiling the scheme, corporation mayor V V Rajan Chellappa said the
‘AMMA Thittam’ aims to carry out works in all the 100 wards on a
war-footing. While concentrating on repair and maintenance works in the
previous 72 wards, the scheme will concentrate on drinking water
facilities, garbage clearing and mosquito control measures in the recently formed 28 wards, he said.

Under the scheme, 600 workers, with 150 each in 10 teams for four zones, would be deployed for maintenance of the wards.

The one-day schedule in each ward will be garbage clearing; cleaning
the sand accumulated on the roads; maintenance of underground drains,
street lights, parks, bore wells and hand pumps; planting of trees;
removing stray animals like dogs, pigs and cattle in the city areas;
mosquito control measures and sanitation works.

By
concentrating on each ward in the four zones per day, the corporation
can carry out these works in all the wards in 25 working days, the
corporation estimates.

To implement the AMMA scheme, two
committees are to be formed – 1) a planning committee consisting of
zonal chairmen and councillors and 2) an executive committee consisting
of officials.

As a one-time expenditure for the scheme, the
corporation has set aside Rs 2 crore for water-leakage management,
patchwork for roads, repair of damaged manholes, increasing height of
manholes, extension of open drainage, removal of garbage, small
maintenance works in school and hospital buildings and building of new
roads (20-50 feet), new waterline connections and platforms around bore
wells.

Along with the scheme, Chellappa also announced that the
councillors’ development fund has been increased from earlier Rs 5 lakh
to Rs 10 lakh much to the pleasure of the councillors.

The
lone CPM councillor, M Chellam, commented that the scheme appears good
but it should be implemented properly for the welfare of the public.