The Hindu 09.03.2013
State cut on plan fund to stall city projects
The government decision to cut Rs. 2.5 crore from its
annual plan fund allocation to Kochi Corporation may upset the
construction of roads, canals, drains and even the maintenance of
hospitals in the city. The decision has come at a time when the
implementation of a large number of such projects has been derailed in
the city. The cut was made from the Rs. 40.28 crore allotted to the
civic body.
The State government deducted the amount
from the plan fund to allocate it back to the civic body for land
acquisition for the proposed sewage treatment plant at Elamkulam.
The government decision will hit the implementation of the projects in Kochi in the long run, admitted Mayor Tony Chammany.
A
large number of projects may remain non-starters and a few others would
be lagging behind schedule causing inconvenience to the general public.
The
contractors of the Kochi Corporation prefer to take up the works
implemented using plan funds as they would get the payments immediately
on completion of the works. In other cases, it may take years for them
to get the money.
K.N. Sunilkumar, parliamentary
party leader of the CPI (M) in the council, said the decision would
upset all works implemented in the city under the people’s plan
programme. There is also the possibility of some contractors being
denied payment even after the completion of the work, he said.
The
Kochi Corporation may not be able to complete a large number of
projects before the March 31 deadline as it had to re-tender around 300
projects following charges of corruption. Besides the delay caused by
the re-tendering, financial constraints too would force the corporation
to cut short its projects, he said.
The decision,
according to K.J. Sohan, chairman of Town Planning Standing Committee,
would upset the purchase of medicines for hospitals and maintenance of
city schools.
Mr. Chammany felt there was no
justification for cutting the plan fund for allotting funds for a
project implemented in the city under the Jawaharlal Nehru National
Urban Renewal Mission. For the mission projects, 50 per cent of the
project cost would come as grant from the Centre and the rest needed to
be raised by the State government and the local body.