Trenching of roads for city gas project put on hold

Councillors say rate fixed for road restoration is inadequate, fear revenue loss

June 14, 2017 10:43 pm | Updated June 15, 2017 08:08 am IST - KOCHI

A request from the Indian Oil-Adani Gas Private Limited for trenching the city roads for laying pipelines for the city gas project has been put on hold.

Though the proposal came up for the consideration of the Kochi Corporation Council on Wednesday, it was greeted with all-round opposition. Besides the apprehension about the possible revenue loss, councillors also demanded that the file needed to be thoroughly studied.

The agenda note circulated among the councillors said the company had submitted applications for trenching the Canal Road, Tank Bund Road, South Chilavannoor Road, Anamthuruthy Road, Chakkalakkal Road, Lourde Church Road and Pandit Karuppan Road. The company had also produced a government order asking the Kochi Corporation to permit the work and collect the road restoration charges at the rate prescribed by the Public Works Department.

If the government suggestion was followed, the corporation would have to allow the private company to trench the roads at a rate lesser than that fixed by the civic body, it said. Civic officials said that the civic body might suffer a loss of ₹79.82 lakh as a consequence. They also feared that the city roads that would be trenched could not be restored properly with the money that the company would remit.

Moreover, they apprehended that the decision would serve as a precedent for other companies, including telecom firms, and they too would demand lower rates, upsetting the financial plans of the civic body.

Bringing the issue to the notice of the council, P.M. Harris, Chairman of the Works Standing Committee, said the possible loss and the fallout of the decisions needed to be thoroughly discussed.

The restoration amount for roads, as projected by the government order, would be grossly inadequate. It was estimated that 890 km of city roads would have to be cut open for the pipelines, leading to a huge financial loss and damage to city roads. The civic body was all in favour of the project. However, adequate restoration charges should be provided, he suggested.

Intervening in the discussion, Deputy Mayor T. J. Vinod drew the attention of the civic representatives to the possible revenue loss, if the private firm was allowed to pay a lower rate than the existing one.

The civic body was likely to lose around ₹14 crore through the introduction of Goods and Services Tax. The corporation could not afford to lose revenue through the project and render its roads non-motorable, he said.

Since the Adani Group’s Vizhinjam Transshipment project had invited the wrath of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the civic body should tread cautiously while dealing with the company. If the government insisted on implementing the job at a lower rate than prescribed by the civic body, the State government should make good the loss, he demanded.

K. J. Antony, leader of the LDF in the council, said the civic body should convene a meeting of all registered political parties and other stakeholders to discuss the issue. The government should also be apprised of the situation, he said.

Councillors, including Mr. Harris, Benedict Fernandez, and V. P. Chandran demanded that the proposal be discussed only after the council approved the revised rate for cutting roads and restoring them.

Considering the sentiments of the council, Mayor Soumini Jain said the agenda should be considered later. It could be considered after the council approved the revised rates for cutting the roads, she added.

A meeting of the council will be held on Thursday to discuss the decision of the civic body to annul the contracts for the separate collection and transportation of plastic and biodegradable waste from the city. The Mayor had announced the decision on Tuesday after at a meeting of the political party leaders in the council. Most of the Opposition councillors skipped the meeting as they had walked out of the council meeting on Tuesday.

After Corporation Secretary A.S. Anuja explained the procedural lapses in the decision, the Mayor suggested that a meeting of the council be held on Thursday to formally take a decision on contentious issue.

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