When poll manifestos in most municipalities announce more online services, drinking water supply, and better waste management among other public services, the top item on the manifesto for political fronts in the Attingal municipality is a smooth drive through the town.
In a municipality where existing waste management practices, public services delivery and even palliative care are cited as models for municipalities across the State, but where negotiating a three-kilometre stretch through the town can be a major hurdle, this has not come as a surprise for the voters.
The widening of the three-km stretch of the NH-66, from Moonnumukku to Poovampara, was sanctioned, with funds, by the government in June. However, work is yet to start, which is why both the outgoing Left Democratic Front (LDF) council, and the United Democratic Front (UDF), trying to regain the council it lost in 2005, are prioritising this issue on their manifestos.
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Traders and over 40 families had agreed to hand over land for the widening. But the rest of the land acquisition and a few procedures are yet to be completed, after which work is expected to be launched. The LDF, apart from speedy completion of the road widening, has also included a mini IT Park, a sewerage network and a slew of industrialisation projects in its manifesto. Continuation of the award-winning waste management system, a palliative care initiative that is earning recognition etc., too figure on the list.
On the other hand, the UDF is training its guns on the property dispute between the municipality and some members of the Sreepadam Palace of the erstwhile Travancore State, alleging large-scale corruption. Apart from accusing the LDF of not finding enough revenue generation systems of the municipality, they also allege that the cleanliness that is attributed to the municipality is visible only in the town, with the situation on the peripheries being as bad as anywhere in the State.