Mangaluru: MLA J R Lobo held a review meeting at the MCC hall here on May 8.
Deputy Mayor Purushotham said that he nor the mayor have received any notification about the development review meeting from the concerned officials. He urged the MLA to bring this issue to the notice of the government regarding the negligence of the officials in MCC.
Lobo informed the MCC official not to repeat such mistakes in future and said that, prior to the meetings, notice should be sent to the mayor and deputy mayor respectively.
Later the Ashraya Yojana which comes under the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Housing Corporation Limited (RGRHCL), was discussed. Lobo said that the government of Karnataka is catering to the needs of the economically and socially weaker section in the society, we have to utilize the schemes of the government. Poor people cannot get more loan, whatever government grants are available should be utilized to build the houses. We are very particular about the stability and cost. Lobo also instructed engineer of Nirbhithi Kendra to submit an estimation for ground +2 floors and also said that by the end of May we need to start the Ashraya Yojana project.
Solid Waste management issue was also discussed in the meeting. Lobo asked the Antony waste management officials to brief about their job according to the contract policy signed by them with Mangaluru City corporation.
Official from Antony Waste management said that according to the contract we need to do door to door collection and segregation, sweeping the roads, also cleaning the small drains and cleaning the 6 km stretch of the beach. We have deployed the employees for door-to-door collection with 55 vehicles. The official also said that the cleaning work was supposed to start in January, we have employed people on trial basis. But due to some technical problems it was delayed and we have started door-to-door collection in February. We have invested Rs 32 crore for the project. We have our own machine to clean the drains and two more will be added by next week. But we have not received the amount from MCC.
When Lobo asked the MCC Commissioner about the payment Hephsiba Rani said that in February we have received Rs 1.68 crore bill and in March we have received Rs 1.84 crore bill from the Antony Waste Management. But they have not carried out whatever is mentioned in the agreement. For not following the policy we have only paid 52% of the total bill in the month of February and in March we have paid 58% for the fuel and salary. We have given a weeks to start the drain cleaning work and end of this month all the drains in the city should be cleaned, she said.
Prakash Salian said that the employees of the Antony waste management are not doing their duty properly, they do not collect the waste everyday. Due to lack of manpower the collection of waste is not being done systematically and citizens face problems.
Former Mayor Mahabala Marla said that from the past four months the cleaning machine worth Rs 52 Lakh is lying in the godown, if we rent the machine to Antony waste management to clean the road we can atleast get some income out of it.
Lobo responding to the officials of Antony waste management said that the rainy season is nearing and the drains should be cleaned as soon as possible. Whatever work is mentioned in the contract should be done accordingly. For any reason the collection of waste, segregation and cleaning of the drains should not be stopped or delayed.
When asked about the transfer of the MCC commissioner, Sorake said that there was misunderstanding between the corporators. But the issue has been solved now.
Mayor Jacintha Alfred, deputy mayor Purushotham, President CREDAI D B Mehta, Chairman Land Trades Srinath Hebbar and others were also present.
