KOCHI: The CPI(M) district committee will take out a march to the Kochi Corporation office and later conduct a dharna on September 20 protesting against the alleged apathy of the Mayor and the United Democratic Front (UDF)-led civic administration to the implementation of the city gas project.
In a release issued here, the district committee of the party alleged that despite having already been rolled out in Kalamassery and Thrikkakara municipalities, the project could not be extended to the corporation owing to the stubbornness of the UDF-led council. The Mayor and the ruling dispensation are openly challenging the people of Kochi, it said.
In all the five municipal corporations except Kochi and all panchayats and municipalities, the rates fixed by the Public Works Department (PWD) are charged for road-cutting work. The insistence on a higher rate applicable to laying of cables and pipelines by private companies for road-cutting work for the city gas project betrays the vested interests of some in the governing committee, the release alleged.
The party urged the civic administration to adopt an approach for the speedy implementation of the project. It further alleged that the previous government and the civic administration lacked the enthusiasm and determination to execute the project that would have benefited lakhs of people.