What Kochi got: Crumbs

KOCHI: The revised budget for 2011-12 presented by Finance Minister K M Mani on Friday does not offer much to Kochi. The budget offers nothing new. Except for the Rs 25 crore allotted for the Metro Rail-related works, the city does not get much fund allocation. The budget did not make any follow-up provisions for some of the key projects announced in the previous budgets and also failed to make allocations for some of the major projects announced by the UDF Government in the last three months. The much talked about Seaport-Airport Waterway tops the list of neglected projects in the revised budget. The major aim of the proposed waterway was to connect the city with the Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery through the water network. The Kochi Corporation had earlier handed over seven major canals in the city to the Irrigation Department for the proposed water metro project. But, though it is mentioned in the budget that four canals in the city will be renovated, there was no specific fund allocation made for the project. Likewise, the budget has not proposed any project for the development of the water transport sector. The Corporation was pinning its hopes on the state budget for provisions to support its plan to purchase hi-tech ferry boats for the city.The budget also seems to neglect the development of roads which is vital to solve the traffic woes in the city. Apart from the statement that the Seaport-Airport widening will be completed this year, there are no allocations for the road projects. The expected allotment for the proposed Railway overbridge at Atlantis is not included in the budget.Mayor OptimisticHowever, contradicting the view, Mayor Tony Chammany said that the government has tried to meet some of the major requirements of the city.“The fund allocations for Metro Rail and Smart City will help both the projects to take off this year. The government has also promised some major fund allocations for the acquisition of land for the Atlantis RoB, Maradu Water Treatment Plant and Thammanam-Pullepady Road widening,” he said.The Mayor said that he is optimistic that though not much provisions have been made in the revised budget, the state government will continue to extent its support to the Kochi Corporation.