E-Paper
IMC to push for shops in schools
THREE STRIKES and you?re out may be the general rule. But the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) is clearly a different ball game.
THREE STRIKES and you’re out may be the general rule. But the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) is clearly a different ball game.
Take the commercial exploitation of unused land belonging to educational institutions. Three attempts to build shopping complexes on the premises of government schools have already come unstuck in the not-too-distant past. Undeterred, the Corporation has once again rolled out a proposal to set up retail stores at government schools located in commercial areas.
The proposal, already approved by the Mayor-in-Council (MiC), will be placed for ratification at a meeting of the IMC general council scheduled for September 9.
In all likelihood, though, the meeting will be postponed as Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is slated to arrive in the City on the same date. If this happens it will be the second time in less than three months that the general council session would have to be deferred owing to a chief ministerial visit.
The contentious lease renewal and transfer policy draft, construction of escalators on AB and MG Roads and the proposed hike of domestic water tax rates from Rs 60 to Rs 150 will be among the other issues to be taken up by the 69-member council.
In all, over 30 items have been listed in the meeting agenda. Of these, 18 were originally to be taken up at the August 11 general council session devoted to the water tax hike that was later cancelled by Chairman Shankar Lalwani on grounds that the proposal had not been cleared by the party leadership.
Key proposals
1 Tender approval for installation of escalators on AB Road, MG Road on build-operate-transfer (B-O-T) basis.
2 Property tax hikes for buildings housing mobile telephony towers.
3 Installation of traffic signals at busy thoroughfares on B-O-T basis.
4 Construction of a state-of-the-art slaughterhouse boasting effluent disposal and sewage treatment plants
4 Approval for the Rs 77 crore loan to cover IMC share in the Rs 641.25 crore Urban Water Supply and Environment Improvement Project (USWEIP).
