KOCHI: The issue of entrusting the renovation work of the crematorium at Ravipuram to Ernakulam Rotary Club is likely to dominate the discussions on Monday’s corporation council meeting. The decision to entrust the club with the renovation work in the first phase will be included in the agenda of the meeting.However, some senior councillors including ruling front councillor N Venugopal are likely to raise objections against the move to award the renovation work to the Rotary Club. “The plan is to award the work on a PPP mode. But a crematorium is not a commercial venture. It is a service. So I cannot agree with the move,” N Venugopal told express.He said that the civic body could look into other options like utilising the MP fund or MLA fund for the renovation works rather than going for a PPP mode. “Last year, the Koovappadam crematorium was renovated using the MLA fund of V K Ebrahim Kunju. If the corporation is facing financial crisis, then they should look for these sort of measures than going for a PPP model,” Venugopal said. Earlier, the Kochi corporation authorities have reached on a consensus with the Ravipuram Crematorium Protection Council- an association of various Hindu denominations- on the issue of renovation of the crematorium with the help of the Rotary Club. According to the plan, an eco-friendly crematorium, which will work on bio-gas and solar energy, will be set up instead of the existing crematorium in which firewood is being used. The Rotary Club of Kochi will carry out the first phase of the work at an estimated cost of Rs 1.5 crore.
Comments
0 comment