Kochi: The revised budget for 2016-17 presented by Finance Minister Thomas Isaac focused on basic infrastructure as far as the state’s financial capital is concerned though it didn’t have any new big project for the region. The biggest allocation of Rs 500 crore was made to the Smart City programme, which aims at integrated city planning, while Rs 225 crore was provided for infrastructure facilities at the Kochi Innovation Zone.
A fund of Rs 61 crore was set aside for the development of Infopark while an outlay of Rs 60 crore was made for promoting Innovation Start-ups at Kalamassery. A sum of Rs 100 crore was allocated for completion of the Kumbalam-Thevara bridge while Rs 40 crore was earmarked for developing the Moovatupuzha-Kakkanad four lane road and another Rs 20 crore for Pattimattom-Kizhakambalam-Manakkakadavu road. Another Rs 75 crore was allocated for constructing a parallel road to the Vypeen-Pallipuram road.
The finance minister also allocated Rs 50 crore for the Angamaly-Kochi airport bypass project while another bypass will be constructed at Moovattupuzha for which an initial allotment of Rs 15 crore was made. Two crucial railway overbridges vital for decongesting the Kochi city too got the nod of the LDF government which set aside Rs 50 crore and Rs 35 crore for the Atlantis RoB and the Vaduthala RoB respectively.
An electronics hardware park (Ambalur) will be set up which would also boost a petro-chemical park. The budget mooted developing a Kochi-Palakkad industrial corridor along the NH-47 for which 500 acres of land would be utilised in the district. The budget also promised funds to roll out 1000 CNG buses in Kochi in the next five years. The finance minister assured uninterrupted fund flow for Kochi Metro project as and when required while the Vytilla Mobility Hub development has also been mentioned under a common pool of infrastructure fund.
But has it got its due share?
Though the state’s commercial capital of Kochi failed to get its due share from the revised budget for 2016- 2017, Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac has allocated funds for the Smart City programme and some of the infra projects like rail overbridges at Atlantis and Vaduthala, Kumbalam–Thevara bridge and funds for Vyttila mobility hub and the Cochin Cancer Institute.
However, the budget is silent on some of the long-pending demands of city residents like flyovers at Vyttila and Kundanoor, development of city roads, footpaths and new drinking water projects. Though the two flyovers have been included in the list of total infra projects in the state, no separate allocation was made. The two-decade-old proposal to widen Thammanam-Pullepady road into four lane too failed to find mention in the budget.
It was in early 2014 that the UDF government had formally issued an order to construct a '109-crore six-lane flyover at Vyttila and a Rs 80.20-crore four-lane flyover at Kundanoor. The projects got stuck after the finance department raised apprehensions over the government investing in the property owned by the National Highways Authority of India.
The finance minister has failed to include most of the recommendations submitted by the LDF district committee which conducted a development seminar to know the city residents’ opinion. Allocation for new drinking water projects, replacing archaic pipelines, funds for JNNURM project, Cluster University in Kochi, new courses in polytechnics, relaying synthetic track in Maharaja’s college, swimming training centre at Nedumbassery airport, funds for second phase development of Infopark and financial assistance to local bodies with no facility for solid waste treatment for acquiring land for setting up treatment plants were some of the recommendations submitted by the district committee.
