Kochi: Kochi Water, a project of the Kochi Corporation to bottle and market water in jars, has run into trouble, with the LDF and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a constituent of the ruling coalition, revolting against its implementation.
As the third unit in the city is to be inaugurated at Ravipuram on Monday, nominees of the League and the LDF have decided to boycott the inaugural function, maintaining that middlemen were making profit at the expense of the corporation.
The project was introduced in the city to provide bottled water at half the market rate. The scheme was to sell a jar of 20 litres at ₹20. The first unit was set up at Edappally followed by another at West Kochi.
The installation cost of a unit was estimated at ₹25 lakh, and the civic body was expected to get ₹1 a litre. While Kudumbasree will get a share of the revenue, some money will go into maintenance of plants, according to the financial model suggested for the project.
K.J. Antony, leader of the LDF in the council, alleged that the civic body had been allowing middlemen to exploit its resources and make undue profit. The front had been demanding that the project be restructured and entrusted with Kudumbasree units to avoid middlemen, he said.
Mr. Antony also suggested that the project be implemented in a transparent manner. The investment cost of the units were jacked up to dupe the authorities, he said.
“LDF councillors will not allow the units to be set up in their divisions unless the scheme is restructured and implemented. The issue will also be raised at the corporation council to be held on Monday,” he added.
Meanwhile, a civic administrator said the corporation had been getting a pittance out of the plant, which was set up in the land owned by the civic body and run using water drawn from its wells. The corporation could have established the plant on its own at half the cost and earned a profit out of it, he added.
Two chairpersons of the UDF, P.M. Harris of the League and V.K. Minimol of the Congress had earlier sought clarity in the functioning of the units in the city. However, no clarification were offered in the council, complained a civic administrator.
