The Trivandrum Residents’ Apex Council (TRAC) has demanded that the number of subsidised liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders for each household be raised to 12 a year from the present nine.
TRAC office-bearers said that nine cylinders would not be sufficient for a six-member household and there was always a waiting period of 45-50 days for the delivery of each cylinder.
Closing down of storage units of oil companies, including that of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. at Veli, would lead to many problems. The council said that the ideal transportation mode for petroleum products would be railways. The government should take steps to set up storage units for oil companies at Vizhinjam so that transportation of oil products could be taken up through waterways, the council said in a request letter submitted to the Chief Minister on Thursday. The council office-bearers said they would protest against any action of the government to dump waste in quarries or at the Thiruvananthapuram Development Authority (TRIDA) site at Chala market. The government should set up a modern garbage treatment plant at Vilappilsala, which could treat the entire waste generated in the city, they said in a press release issued here on Thursday.
Milk price
The council said that the government should verify the accounts of Milma, the government-backed cooperative milk marketing body, functioning under three separate regions in the State. The council alleged that the company was making illegal profit. The Thiruvananthapuram unit of Milma needed 12 lakh litres of milk a day. Only 8 lakh litres was received from dairy farmers. TRAC office-bearers said the remaining 4 lakh litres, which was obtained from milk powder, was adulterated with artificial fat. The accounts of the company would reveal the profit it made from this, they said.
Bus fare hike
The council said that the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) was running in debts because of mismanagement and that the people should not be made to suffer for this by increasing the bus charges.
TRAC office-bearers said that by raising the minimum charge to Rs.5, the private bus owners had made huge profits and any further increase in the charges on account of increase in diesel prices should be made only after proper consideration.
