VMC may dump lake development project

This was the first time the civic body decided to auction lakes for fishing purposes. As per the agreement,the civic body was to pay administrative expenses to the Department of Fisheries and the money earned through the auction of different lakes was to go to the civic body.

The first auction of the lakes took place in February through the district panchayat. Of 21 lakes identified for the project,as many as 19 were auctioned on the first day and remaining three were auctioned later. The corporation would have received Rs 24 lakh per annum for the next five years.

The VMC was to earn close to Rs 1.21 crore,of which 10 per cent would have gone as administrative charges to the Department of Fisheries. The VMC had also decided to appoint a consultant,who would be given 4.5 per cent of the total cost of strengthening and beautification of the lakes.

However,just six months later,top VMC officials are thinking of discontinuing the project from next year. “Most of the contractors have not developed the water bodies as mentioned in the contracts. Also,the condition of the water bodies has remained the same and nothing has improved. This has put into question the viability of the exercise,” said a senior VMC official.

Sources also said that the contractors who won the bids soon realised they would be losing more than they would be gaining.

“Most of the water bodies face a perennial problem of oxygen levels,which is a must for fishing. Even if seeds are developed and put in these water bodies,it would be a major loss. That is why the contractors are skeptical about starting the process,” said an official familiar with the fishing project at VMC.