VIJAYAWADA: Some say it is a summer retreat for corporators. But the authorities of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) have designed the `study tour' to be undertaken by a group of corporators led by Mayor Mallika Begum to various cities in south India in such a way that the whole kit and caboodle of the corporators may end up saying a vociferous `yes' to tax reforms and water meters.

VMC authorities have chosen the cities and towns to be visited by the corporators during their 10-day tour, which is likely to commence on May 18, so meticulously that the junketeers will be suitably `impressed' by the reforms undertaken in those places. Presentations to be made to the corporators in the municipal corporations of Bangalore, Thiruvanathapuram and Ernakulam are likely to programme their thinking in tandem with the proposed reforms here, the officials hope.

For instance, though corporators cutting across party affiliations have vehemently opposed the fixing of water meters, they will be made to understand how the Bangalore Municipal Corporation pioneered tax reforms and introduced water meters. In Bangalore, taxpayers are allowed to assess the amount of tax to be paid on their own, and the onus lies on them in paying the tax as per schedule.

Similarly, municipal corporations of Thiruvanathapuram and Ernakulam in Municipal Commissioner Natarajan Gulzar's home State - Kerala - have long before ushered in new ideas and innovative developments. The two cities have been included in the agenda as they might offer new initiatives and developments worthy of emulation in Vijayawada, a senior official said on Friday. Rejecting the criticism that the study tour had been planned to beat the summer heat, Ms. Begum said: "We're visiting Mysore, Ooty and Tirupati as we are passing through these places. Not more than a day will we spend at these places," she said.

"The corporators will be able to know many innovative ideas, such as how plastic roads have been laid in Bangalore," she said.

The BMC officials found that plastic roads were three times better than conventional roads, she added.

VMC officials also said the tour would cost about Rs. 5 lakhs to Rs. 6 lakhs. A tour operator was likely to be roped in. A floor leaders' meeting was convened on Thursday to discuss the issue.

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