Corp to zero in on contractors

KOCHI: The Corporation Council on Wednesday instructed the assistant executive engineers to take an estimate of the number of roads which are in bad shape.Only those roads that have been damaged within one year of its repair will be counted.The decision in this regard was taken at the council meeting held here on Wednesday.The council has also instructed the respective contractors, who have failed to give a minimum guarantee of at least one year to these roads, to carry out the repair works.The issue of the sorry state of the roads was raised at the Council by ruling front councillor N Venugopal.He said that some of the major roads in the city, including Hospital Road, ThevaraUP Bridge Road, SRV School Road and Rajaji Road, were already in a dilapidated state."The sad fact is that these roads were repaired only six months ago. There are huge irregularities in the whole process," Venugopal said.He also demanded a Vigilance inquiry into the issue. The Opposition also backed Venugopal's demand.However, Corporation Works Standing Committee chairman Saumini Jain said the maintenance works were completed by utilising the People's Planning Fund."Some major works are over. But owing to the election code of conduct, the repair of some roads is pending. The work will begin after the monsoon," Saumini said.Brahmapuram plantDeputy Mayor B Bhadra, who chaired the meeting, said a special council meeting would be convened to discuss the steps for the renovation of the Brahmapuram Solid Waste Treatment Plant. Her decision came in the wake of the strong protest raised by the Opposition against the defunct plant. "The special council will discuss the immediate steps needed to be taken to renovate the plant," she said.