Mayor Nandu Satam informed that while the nine proposals were placed before the council, seven have been sent to the roads committee for its approval. According to rules, the nine proposals should amount to Rs 18 crore since the council can deliberate on proposal each worth at least Rs 2 crore. Satam, however, refused to give details on the proposals.

The Mayor also declined to reveal if the proposals sent to the roads committee were each worth less that Rs two crore. However, he said that the municipal commissioner had started work on road repairs by further breaking one proposal into smaller proposals of Rs 10 lakh each and approved them since he has powers to take decisions on proposals upto Rs 10 lakh.

Also, the MiC today approved hike in the allowance of peons working for 35 senior bureaucrats from Rs 850 per month to Rs 1,100. This increase followed similar hike for the state government employees in January 1997. Special allowance for chief security officer, assistant security officer and ward security officer has also been increased by Rs 500 per month with immediate effect.

A decision on the formation of ward committees could not be taken after several council members suggested some changes in the rules and regulations of the functioning of the committees.

Earlier, the house had passed a proposal to set up 16 ward committees in the 23 wards in the city.