Thiruvananthapuram Corporation council has decided to recommend the dismissal of junior health inspector M O Anuroop, who was arrested in connection with an alleged sexual exploitation case at a spa, while also announcing proposed measures on urban development, water scarcity, waste management and stray-dog control.
The decision was taken at the corporation council’s 15th meeting under the BJP-led administration on Saturday. The council will now seek the government’s approval to form a society on the model of the Kochi corporation. The proposed body will focus on urban development, heritage conservation and resource mobilisation.
The council also decided to organise a conclave to discuss solutions to the city’s drinking water scarcity, waste management crisis and waterlogging. The report did not specify the date of the conclave, the agencies that would participate or the funding arrangement for the proposed society.
The meeting was marked by confrontations between the ruling BJP and opposition parties. BJP councillors welcomed Vazhottukonam councillor R Sugathan after the high court set aside a preventive detention order against him. They later demanded action against CPM ward councillor Ajin S of Thrikkannapuram, who faces a vigilance probe over alleged bribery. BJP councillors displayed placards and raised slogans seeking his removal from the council.
Stray-dog management became another major point of dispute. UDF parliamentary party leader K S Sabarinadhan alleged that the corporation did not have basic data on the number of stray dogs captured and sterilised. He also alleged that the corporation had made limited progress despite spending considerable amounts on the issue.
UDF councillor Sudheer Khan said stray dogs continued to create problems in Vizhinjam ward. Other opposition councillors also raised similar concerns. Health standing committee chairman M R Gopan responded to the allegations, while Mayor V V Rajesh asked councillors to identify government-owned land in their wards for the establishment of stray-dog shelters.
The discussion placed data and capacity at the centre of the corporation’s animal-control debate. The report did not provide the number of dogs captured or sterilised, the expenditure incurred, the number of shelters currently available or the operational status of existing facilities.
The council also debated the administration’s record on development projects as it approaches one year in office. LDF councillor R P Shivaji criticised the administration for not announcing major projects. Mayor Rajesh said the administration was not interested in announcing projects merely for publicity or in wasting public money. He cited the Vilappilsala waste treatment plant, the slaughterhouse and Smart City projects in support of that position.
The meeting ended with protests and separate walkouts by the opposition fronts. UDF councillors left the meeting alleging that the corporation had failed to tackle the stray-dog menace. LDF councillors entered the well of the council, accusing ruling-front councillors of making personal attacks and alleging that the mayor was preventing them from raising public issues. They later boycotted the meeting and staged a dharna outside the corporation office.
The next stated steps are to seek government approval for the proposed society, identify government-owned land for stray-dog shelters and organise the conclave on water scarcity, waste management and waterlogging.
