Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

CPI (M) stages walkout on water meters issue

Staff Reporter

Sequel to Mayor's refusal to allow discussion on YSR's statement

NOVEL IDEA: CPI(M) corporators protesting against mosquito menace at the VMC general body meeting on Friday. - Photo: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar

VIJAYAWADA: Corporators of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Friday walked out of a meeting of the general body of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) protesting against Mayor Mallika Begum's decision not to allow a discussion on Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's February 10 statement here linking the release of JNNURM funds to the fixing of water meters.

CPI (M) corporators were not satisfied with the response given by the ruling Congress to their proposal that the conditions of the JNNURM scheme be tabled before the general body. They rejected the ruling party's resolution referring the proposal to the City Development Committee.

When CPI (M) corporators insisted that they be told about the `reform agenda' stipulated in the JNNURM agreement, Municipal Commissioner Natarajan Gulzar said that five administrative initiatives were emphasised in the agreement. These were maintenance of double entry accounts, implementation of e-governance, spending 40 per cent of the sanctioned funds for slum development, cutting down unnecessary expenditure and fixing property tax on the basis of unit-area.

`Non-revenue' water

Reducing the amount of `non-revenue' water being distributed in the city was one of the points mentioned under the issue of reducing unnecessary expenditure, he said. According to the agreement, the VMC should reduce the distribution of `non-revenue' water from the current 50 per cent to 40 per cent by the end of 2008 and to 30 per cent by 2009, Mr. Gulzar made clear.

At this juncture, CPI (M) floor leader Ch. Babu Rao pointed out the Chief Minister had insisted that fixing of water meters was essential for the release of funds, though the conditions in the agreement did not stipulate it.

Congress corporators protested against the floor leader's remarks, and the Mayor said she would not allow a discussion on the Chief Minister's statement because it was not related to the item in the agenda. This prompted CPI (M) corporators to walk out.

Mosquito menace

Earlier, the CPI (M) corporators staged a novel protest by walking into the general body meeting draped in mosquito netting material and spent about half an hour in the same manner to highlight the mosquito menace in the city.

Nod for BRTS

The general body approved the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) proposals for the city and recommended that they be sent to the State Government for seeking funding under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

The approval was given for the project report prepared by the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) for six corridors of a total investment of Rs.405 crores, as well as the pilot corridor (`green corridor') of 15.5 km length of an investment of Rs.152 crores. For the latter, the VMC already secured `in-principle' approval from the central sanctioning committee of the JNNURM.

Lorry stand

Also, the inordinate delay in resolving the Bhavanipuram lorry stand problem and the misuse of canal bunds by persons who took them on lease came into sharp focus during a discussion on the use of municipal lands.

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