Royal snub upsets Kochi Corporation

Kochi: The Corporation Council expressed its displeasure in strong terms over the State Government’s attitude to Mayor Tony Chammany during the royal visit. At the council meeting on Tuesday, both opposition and ruling councillors registered their dissent over keeping the Mayor and the council in the dark over the royal couple’s visit to the city and their travel schedule.

“It’s not just an insult to the Mayor or the council, but to the entire residents of the city. Despite being a major stakeholder, the organisers didn’t provide any opportunity for the civic administration to engage with the royal visit. The council’s protest should be brought to the attention of the Government,” said CPM councillor K.J Jacob, who is also the opposition leader.

Councillors K.R.Prem Kumar, Karmily Antony, V.K Minimol, C.A.Shakeer, M.P.Mahesh Kumar and Thambi Subrahmanyam expressed strong dissent over the negligence.

Replying to the debate, Mayor Tony Chammany said the civic body would officially communicate its displeasure to the state government. “Even if it was a personal visit, the civic body should have been informed,” he said.

Meanwhile, CPM councillor K.N Sunil Kumar lashed out at the Mayor and the civic administration alleging that both the bureaucracy and the political administration in the civic body were corrupt.

“Though the Mayor recommended a probe by the Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau into the controversy over the tax relaxation given to a prominent textile shop on MG Road, corruption is prevalent in all sections of the civic body,” he alleged.

The councillor also demanded a comprehensive probe and action against a hotel that was functioning without a valid permit, at Vyttila.Replying to CPI councillor C.A Shakeer who raised the issue of traffic problems along MG Road due to the metro rail work, the Mayor said a meeting of the traffic regulatory committee would be convened to address it.