VMC Council nod for rise in corporator’s yearly budget from Rs 30 L to Rs 50 L

The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) Council unanimously passed the resolution to enhance the Corporators’ budget per year from Rs.30 lakh to Rs.50 lakh. Also, the council said that the enhancement of the budget will be implemented from the current financial year. The council passed a resolution that officials should prioritise the division budget.
On the other hand, the council expressed displeasure with the Engineering and Public Health department officials as they neglected the proper drinking water supply and maintenance of sanitation in the city. Mayor Rayana Bhagyalakshmi has given directions to the officials to give top priority to the drinking water supply and sanitation.
The VMC Council meeting was chaired by Mayor Rayana Bhagyalakshmi at the council hall on Wednesday. Soon after starting the meeting, the Opposition TDP and CPM demanded that media might be allowed inside the council hall to cover the council proceedings. But the Mayor denied their demand and the council was adjourned for a while. After resuming the council proceedings, it paid homage to deceased ex-corporators and the meeting extended the condolence.
During the agenda, the TDP Corporator Mummaneni Prasad proposed to enhance the corporator’s budget from Rs.30 lakh to Rs.50 lakh per year. He asked the council to implement the enhanced budget usage from the current financial year. Also, he urged Mayor Bhagya Lakhsmi to first give priority to the proposals from the Corporators and later give other works. The TDP member’s proposal was unanimously passed in the council. With this initiative step, the YSRCP and other members thanked the council.
Meanwhile, the ruling YSRCP in the council, the opposition TDP and CPM members have expressed their unhappiness over the drinking water supply and maintenance of sanitation. The drinking water is being contaminated by the drainage water and as a result, people are suffering from diarrhoea and other diseases, they said.
TDP floor leader N Balaswamy, members M Prasad, Ummadi Venkateswara Rao, Lalitha and the YSRCP members Adapa Seshagiri, Deputy Mayor Bellam Durga and others agreed with it. Even Mayor Bhagyalakshmi was also unhappy over the drinking water supply and poor sanitation.
Irrespective of the parties, all members of the council targeted the Engineering and Public Health department officials for neglecting the people’s amenities. The TDP member Prasad commented that it was shameful for the council including the officials for not providing needful facilities to the people. To improve sanitation in several areas, many members came forward to appoint staff to a sharing system with the collaboration of residents.
After holding detailed discussions, the council passed a resolution to recruit additional staff for the maintenance of sanitation in the city. Also, to conduct repairs to leaked pipelines to avoid the contamination of drainage water, the authorities were directed to recruit contract workers.
Meanwhile, Mayor Bhagyalakshmi was angered by Chief Engineer Prabhakar for not immediately responding to the council resolutions. She questioned him why they were not putting files in this regard. Later, the Commissioner In charge Dr A Mahesh replied to the council that all pipeline repair works are to be completed by July 20.
After that, the shifting of the Mango Market at Kedareswara Pet in the 34th division was proposed by Bandi Punyasheela, and the opposition TDP opposed it. Punyasheela said that the Mango Market is being obstructed because of the traffic problem on Kolandareddy Road. However, the TDP members differed with her proposal. Also, the council opposed the proposal from the commissioner to arrange traffic signals at 21 junctions including five junctions in the rural areas with an outlay of Rs.2.97 crore.