THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The City Corporation Council has decided to convey to the Chief Minister its disappointment over the first Budget of the UDF Government which allegedly sidelines the needs of the capital city. A resolution moved by Works Standing Committee Chairman V S Padmakumar said that the Government should take into consideration the steps needed for comprehensive development of the capital and include suggestions helpful for that. The discussion on the resolution, which threw all decorum of the code of conduct proposed by Mayor for her team to thin air, saw the BJP siding with the ruling members to approve the agenda. Padmakumar pointed out that the Budget has not given importance to the Attukal township programme, the Karamana-Kaliyikkavila road development, Akkulam lake restoration or the solid waste management project. The Rs 250 crore which was set aside for Capital City Road Development in the budget of Thomas Isaac was cut down to Rs 30 crore. The Attukal project had Rs 10 crore set aside for it, which does not have a penny in this Budget. The Science and Technology Research Park, Thycaud Women and Children Hospital, Poojapura Panchakarma Hospital, Kovalam beach renovation - the development of all these would come to a halt as there is no mention of them in the Budget, Padmakumar’s resolution said. However, Poojappura councillor Maheswaran Nair, who spoke after Padmakumar, steered the topic to Central- sponsored funds. He quoted the amount allotted by the Centre for several projects and added that very little has been spent. He said that the Council was acting at the behest of V Sivankutty MLA and trying to impose his decisions upon the Council and was being supported by the BJP too. Congress councillor Harikumar alleged that Sivankutty and BJP councillor Ashok Kumar nurtured an unholy alliance that dates back to many years. This led to serious protests from the side of the CPM councillors, who stood up to defend their MLA’s name in the Council. Finally, after nearly an hour’s discussion, there was no atmosphere of cordiality. Mayor K Chandrika intervened to say that only two more councillors could speak. The first one to get up, UDF leader Johnson Joseph, started with one point, talked about some other point and concluded with another, which led to the Council breaking into a laughter. The second person, Deputy Mayor G Happykumar, expressed disappointment over the way a serious issue was made into an object of fun by the UDF. Concluding the discussion, the Mayor said that it was a matter of concern to all councillors that their city was neglected in the Budget. The matter should be taken up together, she said.
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