The allocation of storm water drainage projects under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme for the various wards of the city Corporation came up for criticism at a council meeting on Tuesday, with Opposition councillors alleging that a majority of the projects were in the wards held by the ruling LDF. The Mayor said the list is only for the second phase of projects, while all the wards would be accommodated in successive phases.
Councillors of the UDF and BJP alleged that a majority of their wards had not been considered for the projects. In the list for the second phase presented in the council on Tuesday, of the 24 wards for storm water drainage projects, 16 were LDF wards, while BJP and UDF had four each.
Works standing committee chairperson Safeera Begum said in the first phase, 40 works were taken up in 27 wards. In the second phase, 70 works were being taken up in 27 wards. The estimates for the third phase are being prepared. But, the Opposition councillors questioned whether wards in the first phase had been repeated in the second phase. As data for this was not immediately available, Mayor V.K. Prashant said a core committee meeting would be convened soon to discuss the issue.
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The Opposition councillors also raised the issue of new applicants for welfare pensions not getting approval, for the past many months, as the welfare pension website had been closed for registrations. The Mayor said he had already written to the government regarding this. The Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation is conducting a sample survey in one ward in the Corporation to filter out ineligible beneficiaries.
The Opposition councillors also created a furore over a list of service providers selected by the sanitation committee for the waste treatment at source programme. The councillors sought that the details of the companies be taken into consideration before taking a decision. A resolution moved by UDF councillor D. Anilkumar regarding fuel price increase also led to uproar from the BJP councillors. It continued when LDF councillor Ayesha Baker moved another resolution on the rape of an eight-year-old in Kathua. The Mayor said the resolution would be taken up in the next council.