Local bodies should seriously take up activities to preserve water bodies taking into consideration the current scenario of acute water scarcity, Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran has said.
He was speaking after inaugurating the first development seminar of the 13th five year plan of the city Corporation, here on Sunday. He said Kerala was the only State which had gone ahead with the 13th five year plan. “Our government took the decision to continue with the five-year plans because of the key role that it has played in our planning and development over the years,” he said.
The Minister said he had seen increased participation in the ward sabhas this year, almost reminiscent of the kind of involvement of the public when the People’s plan was launched. “In one of the gramasabhas that I visited, there were as many as 800 people participating,” he said.
Mayor V.K. Prashanth said the aim for the Corporation this year was to utilise 100% of the funds allocated to it. “Last year, we lagged behind in fund utilisation in the initial months. But, we made up for that by March, and came out first across all local bodies in the State with fund utilisation of 68%. The State government has brought in revolutionary changes this year by insisting on implementation and fund utilisation through out the year,” said the Mayor.
State Planning Board member K.N. Harilal said democracy attained its true meaning only when people participated in it beyond the elections in the actual work of governance.
The city Corporation would get funds to the tune of ₹1,860 crore from the State government over the next five years. In addition to this, funds of ₹1,000 crore are expected from the Central government’s Smart City, PMAY and AMRUT projects. Funds to the tune of ₹360 crore are available for this year. Out of this, the development fund will be ₹219 crore, maintenance grant will be ₹52 crore and SCP fund will be ₹35 crore.
