Opposition shoots down bid to revise annual projects

Thiruvananthapuram: The move by the ruling front to bring in major revisions in the annual projects of the Corporation were turned down by the BJP and UDF at the council meet here on Tuesday.

They alleged that the LDF was trying to cancel the project awarded to each ward.

The council session turned stormy when the agenda, which was approved by the works standing committee came up for discussion.

The Opposition parties demanded the ruling front to put the agenda for voting following which the Mayor decided to postpone the agenda to the next council meet.

The Opposition councillors claimed that the ward councillors are unaware of the changes brought in the annual projects. They alleged that the ruling front was showing partiality and deliberately cancelling projects worth a huge sum of money in some of the wards ruled by the BJP and UDF.

In reply to the allegations, the works standing committee chairman Vanchiyoor P. Babu said that the revisions were made based on the written feedback from the officials and respective councillors.  

He said that the allegations raised by the Opposition were baseless and there was no politics in allotments or revisions of projects. He said that projects which couldn’t be implemented should be shelved so that fresh projects could be taken up in each ward.

The council also decided to urge the government to exempt stamp duty for buying land for the displaced families in the coastal belt. The government has announced `10 lakh relief package for each displaced family to buy land and construct a house. Valiyathura councillor Sheeba Patrick said that `6 lakh of the total `10 lakh allotment is for buying land. She said that hundreds of families are at the relief camps and because of heavy stamp duty many of them are unable to buy land.