Mayor Subrata Mukherjee hands over the tsunami relief cheque to chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Mayor Subrata Mukherjee on Wednesday handed over to chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee a cheque for Rs 15 lakh in aid of tsunami victims.

Mukherjee, who went to Writers? Buildings accompanied by eight members of his council, presented Bhattacharjee a photograph showing a panoramic view of the city.

The mayor and his team held a 30-minute discussion with Bhattacharjee on various issues, including a few important projects that needed to be completed before the civic elections in June.

A few weeks ago, Mukherjee had contributed from the mayor?s fund and handed over by cheque the civic employees? contributions worth Rs 50 lakh to the Prime Minister?s Relief Fund.

Cup of honour: In keeping with the mayor?s gesture relating to social causes, as well as in aid of sports, the Royal Calcutta Turf Club (RCTC) has introduced the Mayor?s Cup this year.

?This is the first time that RCTC has introduced a cup after a Calcutta personality,? said business development manager of turf club Subir Dasgupta on Wednesday.

Mukherjee handed over the first cup on February 19 and the practice will continue every year in the same month.

According to racing convention, the mayor will have to be present during the race to hand over the cup to the winner. The stake money of the cup is Rs 1.75 lakh, while the winner will get Rs 1.035 lakh, along with a Rs-15,000 cup.

There are five racing clubs in India, under the Turf Authorities of India ? in Calcutta, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai. Bangalore has a Chief Minister?s Cup for racing, Dasgupta said.

In Calcutta, Jyoti Basu had once inaugurated a race in the late 1970s. No cup has ever been named after a chief minister in Calcutta.

CMDA role: Earlier in the day, chief minister Bhattacharjee, inaugurating the second phase of the Barrackpore-Dum Dum Expressway, said the government was interested in more private participation in building new roads.

He admitted to some flaws in the basic concepts of working and functions of the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA).

?Earlier, the CMDA?s function would only include development of the main city. However, we now realise that it must also work for the suburban areas. We understand that if this body does not work for the development of the suburbs as well, the pressure on Calcutta will go on mounting,? the chief minister said.