Years after they were launched, multiple projects taken up by the Kochi Corporation have made little progress, some taking only baby steps towards completion.
Despite being hauled by the State Pollution Control Board in the past, the corporation’s abattoir at Kaloor continues to operate with a dysfunctional biogas plant and no effluent treatment plant. A plan to set up a more modern facility at the same site is yet to take off.
The detailed project report for the modernisation of the slaughterhouse has been submitted to the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), which will shell out the project cost of ₹20 crore, said a corporation official associated with the project. A consultant had prepared the DPR, which was submitted to KIIFB in April last year and was returned to the corporation for correction, the official added. It was recently submitted again for approval.
Meanwhile, the biogas plant at the slaughterhouse, which can treat effluents, will be repaired and the work, worth ₹3 lakh, will begin on Monday, he said. The PCB had suggested last year that the biogas plant be made functional immediately. The proposal for a ₹10-crore worth new, smaller slaughterhouse at Mattancherry is awaiting technical sanction from Suchitwa Mission, the official said.
The corporation’s e-governance project, which could have placed applications, registrations and tax payment facilities online, has not budged since the council decided in June last year to hand the project over to Information Kerala Mission (IKM). Without the cooperation of TCS, which had prepared some of the modules earlier, it might not be possible to proceed, said Mayor M. Anilkumar. TCS had categorically stated in a letter to the corporation in June last year that they will not provide any further support. “This is being scrutinised at the State government level. The government’s assistance will be required to rope both TCS and IKM in,” he said.
New office
Construction of the corporation’s new office building, which began in 2005, is yet to be completed. The corporation is set to assign the task of preparing a design and estimate for work on the interiors, like plumbing and sanitary fittings, to a company at a cost of ₹3.5 lakh. Ongoing work on the building costs around ₹24 crore and the interiors will cost an additional amount based on the estimate to be prepared. While the Mayor had earlier said that the council hall would not have sufficient seating space, the design error has been rectified, he said.
