2 days ago
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The Kochi Corporation Council has decided to question an mentation from the contractor entrusted with installing LED thoroughfare lights crossed 76 divisions implicit alleged lapses successful work delivery.
Mayor V.K. Minimol announced the determination astatine the assembly gathering held connected Saturday (May 30, 2026) aft councillors, cutting crossed governmental parties, levelled terrible disapproval against the contractor and accused him of indifference, which had exposed them to nationalist ire.
The contented was raised by Left Democratic Front parliamentary enactment person V.A. Sreejith, who accused the Mayor of favoritism against West Kochi and of failing to guarantee due oversight, arsenic decided astatine an all-party gathering held earlier this month.
He said that portion the contractor claimed to person slowed down installation aft realising the lack of a renewed agreement, lone aft completing works successful divisions 1 to nine, adjacent councillors from those divisions had complained of not receiving the lights. As helium sought to country the Mayor, Ms. Minimol said she had issued verbal directions to the contractor whenever councillors alerted her to lapses successful work delivery.
She urged councillors to pass the lasting committee chairpersons acrophobic oregon the Mayor straight to guarantee corrective action. However, this did not beryllium good with Mr. Sreejith, who retorted that it was the Mayor’s work to guarantee compliance with assembly decisions and that councillors request not support her informed astatine each turn. To this, the Mayor countered that she could not perchance beryllium alert of affairs successful each 76 divisions.
Bastin Babu, an Independent councillor from the Chullickal division, accused the contractor of inflating the measurement of enactment compared to what was really done. “While helium claims to person installed 200 lights, not much than 10 person been installed successful reality. Though the cablegram required for installation is portion of the package, helium collects wealth for the aforesaid from the councillors concerned,” helium alleged.
The Bharatiya Janata Party councillor representing the Amaravathy part alleged that the contractor had gone retired of the council’s control. She said that a fewer high-mast lights taken distant nether the pretext of attraction were yet to beryllium restored, portion immoderate had been installed elsewhere.
Vyttila part councillor V.P. Chandran observed that councillors had been near astatine the mercy of contractors successful general. “They bash not implicit works successful a time-bound manner, and councillors chopped a atrocious fig earlier the public. This should change,” helium said.
