Nagarajyothi, the LED streetlight programme launched by Alappuzha municipality, has courted controversy with the Opposition in the municipal body raising allegations of corruption in the deal.
The municipal chairperson has refuted the allegations.
The UDF parliamentary party leader Thomas Joseph said the project was being executed as per an agreement between the KSEB and the Energy Efficient Services Limited.
The terms of the agreement have not been discussed in the municipal council, he said.
Lack of transparency
The UDF is not against the Nagarajyothi project, but is opposed to the lack of transparency in it. The State government has proposed Nagarajyothi for 37 municipalities and wanted transparent procedures to be adopted.
Other municipalities are following open tender method unlike Alappuzha municipality.
The project does not require initial funding whereas the Alappuzha municipality has already paid over Rs.3 crore, he said.
Reacting to the allegations, municipal chairperson Mercy Diana Macedo said the UDF was steeped in ignorance over the project.
The municipality had paid Rs.3 crore in three instalments to the KSEB.
She refuted the charge that matters pertaining to the project were not discussed at the municipal council meetings. The council had approved payments each time.
The municipality had made an agreement with KSEB and not with any other agency as was being alleged, she said.
