Most large projects proposed for the West Kochi area have been stuck in a limbo despite the current council’s term having arrived at its end.
Deputy Mayor K.R. Premakumar said the resumption of work on the Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) housing tower for landless beneficiaries at Thuruthy could be seen as a plus. Cochin Smart Mission Limited (CSML) is implementing a few road and drain projects, but its work on a sewage treatment plant had stalled, he added.
The current financial year’s budget has a ₹700-crore worth project for West Kochi, aiming for the area’s development, he said.
In five years, only a few superficial changes were made to the West Kochi area, and status quo was mostly maintained, according to Opposition Leader K.J. Antony. “The sewage treatment plants under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) project have not yet materialised. The Rameswaram-Kalvathy boundary canal still lies in a filthy state, and the Mattancherry slaughterhouse, which has remained defunct for several years, has not yet been renovated. The RAY project hit hurdles and has not been completed. The divisions of West Kochi have mostly been neglected,” he said. People in the vicinity of CSML’s proposed sewage treatment plant could not be taken into confidence, he added.
Shyamala S. Prabhu, BJP councillor representing Cherlai, said, “The last five years saw the corporation bearing a huge financial burden. From 2017 onwards, work under the division fund has not happened. With the Plan fund, small work like a ward sabha hall were launched. Some things like water supply and street lighting have improved, and several families have benefited from the PMAY project,” she added. But divisions like hers were left out of major projects like those under CSML or Operation Breakthrough, she said.
K.K. Kunjachan, Congress councillor representing Thoppumpady, said some work on cleaning canals and laying slabs over them had been completed in his division.
