The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution that recommended easing of restrictions imposed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for construction activities in 20 wards that come within the red zone in the Colour Coded Zoning Map.
The motion proposed by Thiruvananthapuram Mayor V.K. Prasanth received support from the council across the political spectrum. The recommendations included bestowing on the Corporation the authority to permit construction of residential buildings up to two storeys without having to obtain no-objection certificates (NOC) from the AAI. The Corporation also called for setting the maximum time-frame of issuing NOCs to 15 days, following which the application should be considered to have been given a deemed NOC.
CPI councillor Solomon Vettucaud, who moved a private member’s resolution in connection with the issue, called for stringent norms to ensure that no constructions were permitted for buildings with more than two storeys. He held the view that the Corporation should retain its authority as the supreme authority in issuing permits within the particular zone. IUML councillor Beemapally Rasheed, while supporting the views, said the restrictions imposed by the AAI had affected housing projects that were being undertaken for economically disadvantaged coastal residents.
Meanwhile, allegations of sanctioned funds being diverted for projects that were being undertaken in the wards of councillors belonging to the ruling front, led to heated exchanges between members of the rival camps. BJP councillor Anil Kumar accused the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of diverting funds to their wards. As a result, several development activities in the wards of the Opposition councillors were in limbo, he allegd.
Lashing out at the allegations, Deputy Mayor Rakhi Ravikumar said certain projects were being included under the revised Plan to ensure that the unutilised funds did not lapse. The Mayor said revised projects were not being undertaken for the first time and t such allegations were being raised to support vested interests. He assured the councillors that there would be no fall in the allocations made to each ward. In the event of a certain project facing delay, the funds would be released in accordance with its progress, he said.
UDF councillors protested against the Mayor’s decision to disallow a discussion on the proposed Light Metro project. Accusing the Mayor of bias while entertaining discussions on motions proposed by LDF councillors, they stormed into the well and raised slogans, disrupting the council proceedings for a short while. They later boycotted the meeting.
