Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Heated debate likely over schemes in council meeting

K.V. Prasad

Corporation yet to table key documents in the council

COIMBATORE: The Communist parties and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) appear to be sharpening their knives for the special meeting of the Coimbatore Corporation Council on June 22.

Indications are that the parties will take on Mayor R. Venkatachalam, his party, the Congress, and also its ally, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), on various aspects of three major schemes that the civic body plans to implement under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission of the Central Government.

The main grouse of the Communist parties and the AIADMK is that the Corporation has not tabled in the Council so far, key documents such as the detailed project reports of the Pilloor Phase II water scheme, solid waste management scheme and the scheme for multi-storeyed tenements for the slum dwellers.

All these schemes have been cleared by the Central Government and the Corporation is into the process of implementing it. But, the Communist parties, the AIADMK and the latter’s ally, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) have been upset for long that these schemes have not been discussed in detail in the Council, which is vested with the powers to approve or reject them.

Though the Corporation has held many meetings to explain the scheme, these parties have insisted that a special meeting be held in the Council. The leaders of the parties: C. Padmanabhan (CPI-M), K. Purushotaman (CPI), P. Rajkumar (AIADMK) and N. Thangavelu (MDMK) have asked often what prevents the Corporation from holding such a special meeting on the mission scheme alone in the Council.

The demand was made at the May 31 ordinary meeting of the Council that ended abruptly because of a protest from the parties. They also rejected the resolutions passed in the Council even as their protest was on.

The Mayor, the DMK and the Corporation administration are said to have agreed to a special meeting in view of the time being lost on this issue.

While the aim of the civic body is to have the schemes approved by the Council at least in this meeting, there are indications that the protesting parties may express reservations over some aspects such as privatisation of some components of waste management.

Besides, the delayed distribution of copies of the memorandum of agreement between the Corporation and the Union Urban Development Ministry on the mission schemes may also come in for some criticism. “They could have placed the agreement copy in the Council long ago,” says Mr. Rajkumar. “The reluctance to do it so long only led to a suspicion that the Corporation has committed something that is against the interests of the people of the city.”

While announcing the date of the special meeting a few days ago, the Mayor explained that the Corporation had not done anything that went against the people. Everything was being done to improve the living conditions across the city and no unbearable burden would be put on the people, he said while referring to the protest over the garbage collection fee.

Mr. Padmanabhan said on Wednesday that all his party councillors were prepared for full length debate on various aspects of all the three schemes. “We will oppose all negative aspects and support the good ones, all with the aim to strengthen the scheme,” he said. Mr. Padmanabhan was still worried that the Corporation might only explain the schemes and not how it would raise funds for these.

Corporation sources, however, said that the special meeting had been convened only to clarify all the doubts that the councillors had over the approach to implementing the schemes.

National Council Member of the Bharatiya Janata Party S.R. Seghar said in a statement on Wednesday that the party would picket the Corporation on July 2 to condemn its style of functioning.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Intercity Express
Heated debate likely over schemes in council meeting
Power shutdown on June 23
Training

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu