Pipe bursts: MLA seeks probe by Assembly panel

Says Budget holds no hope for capital district

V. Sivankutty, MLA, on Tuesday demanded a probe by a Legislative Assembly committee into the repeated pipe bursts in the capital district.

Participating in the general discussion on the Budget, Mr. Sivankutty said main pipelines in the city had burst more than 170 times in the past two years and the possibility of sabotage could not be ruled out.

He said a corrupt nexus of certain Kerala Water Authority officials and private contractors seemed to profit from the bursts.

He said the Budget held no hope for the development of the capital region.

Promises in the previous Budget had come to naught. Not a single paisa of the funds set apart for monorail and pod car projects in last year’s Budget had been utilised.

The promises of an information technology park near Kazhakuttom, Aero Space Centre at Chakka and modern bus terminal at Eenchakkal had remained on paper, he said.

Garbage issue

More than 5 lakh tonnes of untreated garbage was polluting the capital. The government had no plans to resolve the garbage plant issue at Vilappilsala.

He said the capital could become a plague hit city, as was Surat in Gujurat once, if the government did not resolve the garbage crisis.

He said nothing had come of the proposals to set up international level convention centres at Akkulam and Santhigiri.

The Rs.2-crore project to modernise the Attipara village office was yet to take off.

The funds allocated for modernising the Government Medical College Hospital, General Hospital and Women and Children Hospital at Thycaud in the last Budget had lapsed due to non-utilisation.

The development of the Karamana-Kaliakavila road was in limbo. He said the Finance Minister had discriminated against the capital while making budgetary allocations for infrastructure development.