THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The City Corporation appears almost unruffled by the new directive of the High Court asking the State Government to repair roads in three weeks. "We have no money, we are paying off our debts to the contractors, and it’s upon the State Government to help us out,’’ the Corporation’s Work Committee chairperson V S Padmakumar puts it across bluntly.The City Corporation had only last week submitted a list of 400 roads in the city which need to be repaired or maintained, to the State Government. "The government had asked us to suggest the roads, prepare a list and hand it over to the PWD for the work. It’s been ten days now and nothing has come out of it,’’ Padmakumar says.He rues that the flood aid and the pension dues to the Corporation are still pending with the government. "With the addition of five more panchayats, which means 22 new wards, the roads under our ambit are long and wide. We have already taken an estimate work of another Rs 30 crore to be done. But where is the money?’’ he asks, while adding that it is not a move to pass the buck on to the state.This, when the contractors have literally kept their knives on its throat, which has forced the Corporation to divide its collection from the professional tax among them. The Corporation has to clear a debt of nearly Rs 26 crore to the contractors’ associations. Though the local body had agreed to pay Rs 6.5 crore by August 25, it simply failed. The contractors have now pressed the warning bell and by Onam, any work that is being done could come to a stop.With the rains coming down heavily, many roads have become non-negotiable due to lack of maintenance. Many ward councillors have raised complaints about the growing number of potholes in their wards. The Court directive, instead of coming as a shocker, seems to have worked as a breather for the Corporation. For, they assume that at least now they would be given the money or the assistance to carry out the work by the State Government.
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