Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Aviation Ministry urged not to downgrade airport

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The City Corporation Council which met here on Monday urged the Ministry of Civil Aviation to withdraw the move to place the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport under the administrative control of the Regional Executive Director, Airport Authority of India, Chennai.

A resolution adopted by the council said the move was likely to affect the development of the airport. Moving the resolution, Mayor C. Jayan Babu said placing the airport under the Regional Executive Director, AAI, would be tantamount to downgrading its status. “After the privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports, the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport was under the direct control of AAI, along with Kolkata and Chennai. Shifting administrative control to Chennai is part of a conspiracy,” the Mayor said.

The resolution called on the government to restore the airport to its original status. It was adopted unanimously.

The meeting urged the State government to take urgent steps to resolve the problem of flooding in the Eenthivilakam, Bala Nagar, Rajiv Nagar and Puthuvel areas in Kannanthura and Sanghumughom wards. Moving a resolution on the issue, Kannanthura ward councillor Solamon Vettukadu said the recurrent flooding had made life difficult for families in these areas.

Intervening in the debate, the Mayor said several flood control projects designed for these areas had fallen by the wayside. He said the Corporation was working on a project to address the problem. Mr. Babu said the project would need coordinated action from different departments.

Deputy Mayor V. Jayaprakash said drainage canals at several locations in the city were blocked, leading to flooding.

UDF council party leader Johnson Joseph highlighted the encroachments on both banks of the Ulloor canal from Edavakode to Kannamoola. Moving a resolution at the meeting, he said land grabbers were trying to appropriate two hectares of land, at a time when the government was implementing a Rs.2-crore scheme to restore the canal. Mr. Joseph alleged that a section of officials in the Major Irrigation Department was abetting the encroachment. The resolution appealed to the government for stern action to remove the squatters.

CPI(M) councillor B. Soman, representing the Kamaleswaram ward, created a flutter at the meeting when he alleged discrimination towards certain wards in the allotment of public works. He pointed out that the Works standing committee had approved eight works for one ward. “The same constituency had been sanctioned Rs.2 crore worth of works in the recent past,” he said. The Mayor said the engineering section had been directed to report on the works carried out in each ward. “The initial report was incomplete and flawed. It has been sent back for revision,” he added.

The meeting adopted a resolution moved by the Town Planning Committee sanctioning a sponsored programme to restore the four traffic islands at the Manacaud junction. During the discussion on the issue, councillor Kuriyathi Sasi said the proposed fencing around the island parks would drive out fish vendors who used the islands as a wayside market. “If the vendors spill out on to the roads, they would pose a hazard for motorists and traders in the area. The Corporation should think of rehabilitating the vendors before beautifying the island parks.”

In his reply, the Mayor said the Corporation would not promote street vending.

Councillors were directed to identify volunteers for ward-level disaster management teams to be set up under the Urban Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction Programme initiated by the government of India and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

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