Blocking borders by erecting barriers not the way: Minister says mayor cannot independently decide where buses should run

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Minister V Sivankutty has said that Mayor V V Rajesh's demand that electric buses as part of the Smart City project should operate only within the boundaries of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation is childish and immature. The minister's response was in a Facebook post. The minister also said that an administrator who views the development of the land so narrowly is an insult to the capital city.

The centre and the state have allocated Rs 500 crore each for the Smart City project. Of this, the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation's share is Rs 135.7 crore. About 60 percent of the project's amount is being spent from the state treasury. In addition to the 113 buses that are part of the Smart City project, 50 buses are owned by KSRTC itself. KSRTC is responsible for the maintenance, drivers, conductors, ticket machines and other facilities for all these buses. There is a tripartite agreement between Smart City - Corporation - KSRTC. Sivankutty added that the mayor, apart from being the chairperson of the advisory committee, does not have the authority to decide where buses should run alone.

Minister V Sivankutty's Facebook post

Mayor should not try to fence off the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation boundary.
Mayor VV Rajesh's demand that electric buses as part of the Smart City project should operate only within the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation boundary is extremely childish and immature. An administrator who views the development of the land so narrowly is an insult to the capital city.

Clarifying some things for the Mayor.

• The Centre and the State have allocated Rs 500 crore each for the Smart City project. Of this, the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation's share is Rs 135.7 crore. That is, about 60 percent of the project is being spent from the state treasury.
• Apart from the 113 buses that are part of the Smart City project, 50 buses are owned by KSRTC. The maintenance, drivers, conductors, ticket machines and other facilities of all these buses are provided by KSRTC. There is a tripartite agreement between Smart City - Corporation - KSRTC. Apart from being the chairman of the advisory committee, the mayor has no authority to decide where the buses should run.
• Thiruvananthapuram is not a place confined within the boundaries of a corporation. It is the capital of a state. It is a place where lakhs of people from within and outside the district and from other states come and go every day. We need to provide them with facilities to travel, not to block the borders by erecting barriers.

People are now realising how positively the former mayors, Comrade VK Prashanth and Comrade Arya Rajendran, viewed the development of Thiruvananthapuram. In the coming days, people will be more aware of how far behind the current mayor's administration and vision are compared to those of the former mayors.
Any move to obstruct development activities for narrow political gains will not be allowed.