The Corporation deferred taking a decision on reducing the width of the proposed Rail overbridge at Pachalam, taking into consideration protest from locals. The council meeting held here on Saturday decided to refer the decision to the Town Planning Committee.
The agenda presented at the meeting said that the land acquisition evaluation committee held at Guest House on November 11 decided to bring down the width from original alignment of 30 metre (22 m and 4 m each on side roads) to 10.50 m, plus 4 metres each on both sides.
Participating in the discussion, Councillor M. Anil Kumar pointed out that funds were sanctioned from the Union government on the basis of the original alignment and it would not be advisable to revise it. Following the opposition raised, Mayor Tony Chammany referred the move to the Town Planning Committee.
Similarly, the proposal to change name boards in division 51 was also set aside, after councillors who had applied for it earlier opposed it. Mr. Chammany said that the new name boards would follow the pattern adopted by Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, where the new name boards and signages were made out of reflective material to enhance visibility during night.
It was also decided to approve the request for upgrading the audio system and facility to record the proceedings inside the Council hall only after checking whether they were compatible to the e-governance model which is underway.
Councillors from West Kochi also challenged the decision to sanction Rs. 6.16 lakh to the contractor who was assigned the work of lighting up Fort Kochi beach and park as well as Pallathu Raman Cultural Centre and Thamarakulam Park during Christmas-New Year celebrations. Councillors led by K.J. Sohan observed that the lighting that was in place did not match with the quoted amount. Following this, the Mayor said that he would look into the complaint and asked the councillors concerned to give their opinion in writing.
Desilting of canals ahead of monsoon was one of the subjects that triggered debate at the meeting. Replying to the discussion, Mr. Chammany said that no compromise would be made in releasing funds, and pre-monsoon works were already underway.
He also countered the allegation that the civic body gave away its rights over roads and canals. According to a decision taken at the government level, some roads and canals were handed over to PWD and Department of Irrigation for repair and improving. There was no move to surrender the ownership of roads and canals.
The Mayor also agreed to reconsider the decision to strike out works pending up to 2008 from the budgetary allocation so as to bring in some financial discipline and to enable the councillors to make better use of division funds, after councillors like T.J. Vinod opposed it. The standing committee of finance would take a final decision on this, he told the council.
Councillors K.J. Jacob, A.H. Niyas, P.S. Prakash, Mumtaz, K.R. Premkumar, P.S. Rajam, M.P. Mahesh Kumar, C.A. Shakeer, Sojan Antony, Gracy Joseph, Benedict Fernandez, P.R. Ranish, C.D. Valsala Kumari, and Antony Kureethara, participated in the discussions.
