Kerala - Kozhikode   

Priority to infrastructure, says Mayor

Kozhikode: Mayor M. Bhaskaran has said that improving municipal governance has been the major achievement of the council since he took charge of the post.

“Office administration has been streamlined to a great extent. It has been made people-friendly with the opening of public information counters. Now, residents can track movement of any file using the touch screen,” he said, in an interview to The Hindu here on Monday.

Mr. Bhaskaran, who completes three years in office, said the new method had helped the office staff concentrate more on their work.

The Mayor said that the Corporation had given priority to infrastructure development. It had a positive impact on the growth in the industrial sector. Trade and commerce had been stagnant in the last few years. “Now the situation is different,” he said.

The government and the Centre had been wholeheartedly supporting the endeavours of the Corporation. The visit of Union Minister of State for Railways R. Velu to the city in the third week of October would be an opportunity for the Corporation to discuss issues concerning the railways, Mr. Bhaskaran said.

Initiating the Cyber Park project at Mettottuthazham, 2 km from Chevayur, was an achievement of the Corporation.

Kozhikode has been declared the first city in the State to achieve 100 per cent e-literacy, the Mayor said.

“The multi-crore Sarovaram eco-project has been initiated under the present council. The inauguration of the first phase of the project will be done this month,” he said. Steps had been taken to construct flats for slum-dwellers at Kalluthankadavu. The displaced settlers at Kothi would also get the benefit of the housing scheme, he said. The Corporation has planned several big projects in the coming months. The government has allotted Rs.60 lakh for a cultural centre at Annakulam. The total cost of the project is Rs.3 crore. Cultural Affairs Minister M.A. Baby will lay the foundations for the project on October 18.

Another project for which tendering is in process is the Rs.2-crore art gallery.

The Town Hall would be given a facelift at a cost of Rs.30 lakh. “However, it will be done without disturbing the traditional architecture,” he said.

The government has also sanctioned Rs.90 lakh to renovate the Mananchira Square. Tendering process is under way to modernise the jubilee hall at Kandamkulam at a cost of Rs.2 crore, Mr. Bhaskaran said.

Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac has approved in principle to allot Rs.40 crore to widen roads such as from Mananchira to Vellimadukunnu; Gandhi Road to the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management; Kothi Beach road and Francis road to Kinassery road.

Land acquisition for widening of roads such as C.H. Flyover- Beach road; P.T. Usha Road; YMCA Crossroad; and the Stadium junction to Puthiyara is in the offing. This will help ease traffic congestion in the city, he said.

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