The government has appointed Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) as the project management consultant (PMC) for Kochi Smart City projects. The earlier team of PMC was a private firm that had expired. Manu Jacob, councillor at United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kochi municipal corporation, said that KIIFB lacks experience as a consultant. After issuing the tender document, the government changed the conditions for appointing KIIFB.
Officials of the Cochin Smart Mission (CSML) said that KIIFB has adequate knowledge as a consultant. The government has appointed KIIFB as PMC by adhering to the tender norms.
Officials said that the Smart City projects registered a 20% growth from 2020. Many projects, including the road works, registered around 50% progress. Many mega projects are yet to be carried out. CSML had to scrap the vacuum sewer project worth Rs 166 crore proposed at Fort Kochi. People had objected that the sewage treatment plant (STP) should be constructed near Fort Kochi Taluk Hospital.
Opposition leader of the Kochi corporation, Antony Kureethre, said that some officials from the earlier consultant firm demanded commission from the contractors for submitting the bills. He said that the contractors abandoned the work as they could not pay the commission to the officials.
Under the smart city project, CSML has renovated many roads in the smart city area. Out of 74 divisions of the Kochi corporation, eight divisions, including three in the central business district and five in Fort Kochi, come under area-based development (ABD) of the smart city.
