The Kozhikode Municipal Corporation Council will request the State government to withdraw its rent policy on anganwadis in the State as it would prove fatal to the existence of a majority of the anganwadis in the city. CPI(M) councillor Peroth Prakashan brought the attention of the council to the issue during its meeting on Friday.
As per the policy, the government will not provide the rent for anganwadi buildings that are less than 500 square feet in area as ‘such a building was not fit to be an anganwadi’.
Mr. Prakashan pointed out that 244 anganwadis within the Kozhikode Corporation were on the verge of shutdown due to this. Several councillors termed the policy a blow to the pre-primary education of poor children.
A motion brought in by K.T. Beeran Koya of the IUML said the issue of the street lights continued to be a headache for the council. He pointed out that the Corporation did not set aside enough funds to solve the crisis.
He suggested that the Corporation should take the responsibility of maintaining the street lights instead of depending on the KSEB. The Mayor said the scarcity of staff in the engineering wing was the reason for the delay in fixing the issue.
Bus terminals
P. Kishenchand of the JD(U) brought the council’s attention to the two proposed bus terminals in Meenchanda and Medical College.
He said that since the Medical College project had been cancelled, the Corporation should acquire the property and go ahead with the project. The Mayor said the issue would be placed before the council for further discussions.
CPI(M) councillor T.C. Biju Raj’s plea to save the Connolly Canal was passed as a motion to be forwarded to the State government.
He pointed out that silt sedimentation at the mouth of Kallai River was blocking the flow of water into the canal that played a major role in preventing waterlogging and floods in the city. Congress councillor Vidya Balakrishnan added that the canal had various tourism possibilities, which needed to be explored.
The council also passed a motion on the completion of pipelines to ensure water supply as per the JBIC project.
