Revenue augmentation gets thrust in Kollam civic budget

Deputy Mayor presents Rs.59-crore surplus budget

The budget of the Kollam City Corporation for 2016-2017 presented by the Deputy Mayor, Vijaya Francis, on Wednesday shows a revenue of Rs.889.74 crore; expenditure of Rs.830 crore and a surplus of Rs.59.73 crore. Ms. Francis said that the budget aims at augmenting the civic body’s revenue without burdening the people with additional taxes but from rents by modernising its shopping malls and constructing new shopping complexes.

The new shopping complex coming up at a cost of Rs.3.5 crore at Polayathodu is nearing completion. The health club at the Kollam beach will also be soon opened to the public. The construction work on the shopping complexes at Mundalumoodu and Tangasseri will commence this year itself. The prestigious “Pakal Veedu” scheme of the previous council is almost complete and will be opened next month.

Water project

The budget takes a serious view of the escalating drinking water problem in the city. To ease the city’s dependence on the Sasthamcotta Lake for water, Rs.10 crore has been allocated for the initial expenses of a project to bring drinking water to the city from the Thenmala Dam. The budget allocates Rs.50 lakh to be provided as subsidy for well recharging. Rs.10 lakh has been allocated for providing drinking water to the public at the city corporation headquarters and zonal offices. Rs.50 lakh has been allocated for providing bottled drinking water to the people in association with the Kudumbasree Mission.

Hygiene and sanitation

Considerable thrust has been given to hygiene and sanitation.

The budget provides an allocation of Rs.3 crore for establishing domestic biogas plants and another Rs.2 crore for installing aerobic compost plants in various parts of the city. A separate amount of Rs.45 lakh has been allocated for installation of biogas plants along the coastal areas, Rs.35 lakh for a solid waste treatment plant near the Kollam port complex and Rs.2 crore for a plastic recycling plant.

The budget says that both the city corporation and the people have a moral responsibility to protect and conserve the Ashtamudi Lake.

An allocation of Rs.1 crore has been provided in the budget to purify the polluted water flowing into the lake. For the general protection of the lake, Rs.10 lakh has been allocated.