KMT fails to raise income through plots

Kolhapur: The Kolhapur Municipal Transport (KMT) is going through a tricky phase at present.
The administration has maintained that it does not have sufficient money to clear the dues of its employees. On the other hand, it has at least seven plots in the city, with each costing lakhs. However, the KMT administration has not taken any steps to increase its earning through these properties.
The elected representatives of the Congress and Nationalist Congress party had called a special general body meeting recently to clear the dues of the employees.However, the meeting was cancelled over petty politics.
Sources close to the development confirmed that some of the properties are yet to completely handed over to the corporation because of which the KMT could not utilise these for generating more funds. The parking facility at Bindu Chowk, the building at Maharana Pratap Chowk near the civic body building and Ayodhya Park are the only three plots that are the earning source for the KMT. The remaining 10 plots have either been not handed over or facing legal issues.
The employees of the municipal transport have been at the receiving end, as the drivers and conductors have not received their payment for more than four months. When the employees protested, the administration as well as the elected representatives assured them of providing assistance. But the meeting on the issue on August 5 was called off owing to petty politics.
A KMC employee said on the condition of anonymity, "The KMT is already earning less because of the reduced number of ferries of buses. The bus ferries to nearby villages have also been stopped as not much income was being generated. At least five villages had submitted a written demand of restarting bus services. But the issue has still not been addressed properly."
"Sadly, the KMT has not yet taken possession of its own land in the city reserved for public transport. Barring one plot in Rajendranagar slum, no other plot of the KMT has been encroached upon. The civic body and the collectors office have not completed documentation and administrative procedures to hand over the land completely to the KMT," the employee added.
When contacted, municipal commissioner P Siva Sankar said, "I am yet to get the details of how many plots are reserved for the KMT in the city and the current status. Once I get to know about it, I can take some steps to solve the issue."
Sankar took charge as the municipal commissioner in January 2015, but is yet to be updated about the facts. He said, "Unless I get detailed information, I cannot speak about the issue. I will ask the officials concerned about the details of the plots meant for the KMT.