KOCHI: Clean streets, durable roads, good sanitation, adequate infrastructure... so goes the wish list of the city’s residents for the Corporation budget 2012-13.Even as broken promises from last year’s budget lie fresh in the minds of Kochiites, the prospects of new projects under the new budget has generated some wishful thinking.“We expect this year’s budget to concentrate more on making Kochi a cleaner city. Proper waste management and sanitation are the things that the city lacks most,” said Rangadasa Prabhu, president, Ernakulam District Residents’ Association Apex Council (EDRAAC).“Though people are advised to treat waste at the source itself, they have not been given instructions on how to do it. Before seeking public help, the Corporation should provide the basic infrastructure. Over 65 per cent of the segregated waste handed over to the Corporation comes from various residents’ associations. The local body should see to it that everybody, including apartment buildings, follow waste disposal norms,” he added.Prabhu added that instead of launching campaigns with a lot of fan-fare and later abandoning them, the Corporation should concentrate more on completing them. Meanwhile, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) Kochi stated that poor infrastructure is like a scar on Kochi’s face.“The basic infrastructure is so poor in Kochi that a Corporation budget is not enough to develop it. However, the Corporation can at least try to address the issue by allowing other parties to help. For example, CREDAI had proposed to the Corporation that plastic from our shredding units can be used for laying durable roads. But the civic body is yet to respond,” said Raffi Mather, Joint Secretary, CREDAI Kochi.He added that the construction of fly-overs at Palarivattom, Vyttila and Edappally will ease the traffic woes of the city to a large extend. “If the corporation lacks funds, such developmental projects should be carried out at least in a Public-Private Participation mode,” he added.
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