KOCHI: The meeting of the Kochi Corporation Council on Tuesday witnessed uproarious scenes over allegations of irregularities in the purchase of anti-mosquito bio-larvicides.

The members of the Democratic Indira Congress(Karunakaran) (DIC-K) staged a walk-out in protest against the "reluctance of the Mayor" to order a vigilance inquiry into the issue.

DIC(K) leader N. Venugopal while leading his partymen out of the council also alleged that the civic administration was abetting the officials who had committed irregularities in the purchase of the bio-larvicides.

It has been alleged that two senior officials of the corporation purchased bio-larvicides to the tune of Rs.33 lakhs without the clearance of the Corporation Council and also misled the Health standing committee chairman in this regard.

The purchase was made with unusual haste and just three months after the corporation bought larvicides to the tune of Rs.50 lakhs, Mr. Venugopal said.

Kochi Mayor Mercy Williams had referred the issue to the Government for an inquiry following media reports of alleged irregularities.

Though Ms. Williams said at the council meeting that the corporation would wait till the Government took a decision on the issue, the DIC(K) members were not satisfied with the decision.

"As the corporation authorities are refusing to order an inquiry, I will personally approach the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau for an inquiry," Mr. Venugopal said.

United Democratic Front (UDF) parliamentary party leader A.B. Sabu sought a clarification from the civic administration on the steps it would take to recover the loss it had incurred by using low-quality larvicides.

T.J. Vinod demanded a vigilance inquiry into the allegations.

N. Anilkumar, while lauding the Mayor for approaching the Government on the issue, demanded that the civic body wait till the Government made up its mind. K.J. Antony demanded action against the officials who misled the Health standing committee regarding the purchase of the bio-larvicides.

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