Urban News

Source : The Hindu Date : 11.06.2009

Kottayam municipal council in limbo

Staff Reporter

KOTTAYAM: Even as the municipal administration is functioning as usual with the acting chairman at the helm, the confusion over the election of a new chairperson for the Kottayam municipality continues.

The municipal administration was pushed into a limbo following the disqualification of the then chairperson Reeba Varkey and three of her followers.

They were disqualified on the complaint made by the Congress on the basis of the Anti-Defection Law. With four members remaining disqualified, the 38-member council now has an active membership of 34.

Out of the 34, the Congress has 16, CPI(M) 14, CPI two. The NCP has one while another member is Independent. It is this complex situation that has resulted in the current imbroglio, since the two single members hold the key to the election of a new chairperson.

The Congress has already called a meeting of its councillors, who according to DCC president K.C. Joseph, were unanimous in ruling out any scope for horse trading. The Congress is not ready to part with the vice-chairman post, he said. He would like the two members join hands with the Congress as they were elected opposing the LDF in the last local bodies elections.

In the LDF camp too, the vice-chairman’s post has become a bone of contention with CPI and the two single members evincing interest in the post.

Meanwhile, the four disqualified persons have not made up their mind whether they should seek legal redress for their grievance.

Source : The Hindu Date : 10.06.2009

Water projects for Kuttanad

ALAPPUZHA: Proposals for an interim project and a long-term project to ensure that the people of Kuttanad will not have to consume contaminated water were the outcomes of a meeting convened by Water Resources Minister N.K. Premachandran here on Tuesday.

The meeting, attended by District Collector P. Venugopal, C.K. Sadashivan and Thomas Chandy, MLAs, district panchayat president R. Nazar, Municipal Chairman P.P. Chitharanjan, Kerala Water Authority officials and representatives of the 14 panchayats in Kuttanad, discussed threadbare the issues that led to contamination of water supply in Kuttanad, and in turn, the outbreak of cholera there.

Interim plan

An interim project, based on suggestions by panchayat representatives, would be submitted to the State government within a month of the KWA officials verifying its technical feasibility, Mr. Premachandran said.

This project will ensure adequate supply of water till a Rs.185-crore long-term water supply project was completed. WASCON, the consultancy wing of the KWA, presented a detailed report on the long-term project on the occasion.

Enough funds

The Minister, who said funds would not be an issue for both projects, said the Blue Brigade concept of a mobile unit for repairs and maintenance of water pipelines, being implemented in Thiruvananthapuram, would be extended to Kuttanad and areas under Alappuzha Municipality.

The Blue Brigade, which will reach the spot if the contractor fails to carry out repairs within 24 hours of the complaint being lodged, will also see to it that deals with contractors who repeatedly fail to do maintenance works are invalidated.

Other plans

Electronic chlorination of water from the 55 tube-wells in Kuttanad, using funds from the National Rural Health Mission or other government schemes, establishment of Reverse Osmosis (RO) Plants, at least two each in every panchayat, were among other proposals raised during the meeting.

The RO Plants, which have been tried out successfully in Alappuzha town, will be set up if the local bodies agreed to bear maintenance expenses.

Plan to open barrage

Mr. Premachandran also said the government was considering keeping the Thanneermukkom Barrage open for one year on an experimental basis to see if that will solve the problem of water contamination. Subsidies for farmers, if they suffered any damages as a consequence, would be part of the idea, he said.