Heated Arguments on Contractors Pending Bills, Indira Canteens etc mark MCC Council Meeting

Heated Arguments on Contractors Pending Bills, Indira Canteens etc mark MCC Council Meeting

Mangaluru: As always, the Wednesday 26 December Mangaluru City Corporation Council Meeting saw yet another chaotic situation between the bevy of councilors and opposition members in the meeting hall, where at one point the opposition members even stormed the well of the council hall when former mayor Sashidhar Hegde proudly said that in the past five years unprecedented works were undertaken and that there were no complaints within the MCC limits. In response, Mayor Bhasker K said that action would be taken in the regard soon and a special grant from the Chief Minister is in the offing.

Member of the opposition Corporator Vijay Kumar alleged irregularities in the Indira canteen operations. He said that not even 100 people use the Indira Canteen facilities at Pumpwell, Kavoor, Urwa Store and Surathkal and that the number is so low although the canteens were opened to provide subsidized food for the poor. “As many as 500 people with tokens are expected to be served breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Unfortunately, not even 100 people use the benefits in Mangaluru. The Corporation has earmarked Rs 3.2 crore in its budget to provide subsidized food through the Indira Canteens. Why should we waste money giving 500 tokens that are not used?” Vijay Kumar asked.

In reply Mayor, Bhaskar K said that in the recently held Mayors’ meeting, a similar concern was expressed. “It has been decided to monitor the functioning of the Indira Canteens by deploying men to verify how many people use the service,” said the mayor. He promised to look at the CCTV footage of the canteens. Civic workers’ houses Raising the issue of 350 sq ft plinth area houses being constructed for civic workers in the Corporation jurisdiction, Opposition leader Premananda Shetty said that the houses look like sheds.

“It is impossible for a family to reside in such houses. The National Commission for Safai Karmacharis member Jagadish Hiremani had directed the MCC Commissioner to merge two houses and allocate to a beneficiary so that they get 700 sq ft houses. Unfortunately, no action has been taken in this regard,” Shetty said. In reply MCC
Commission Mohammed Nazeer said that the unit cost of each house is Rs 7.5 lakh, which is shared by the Central and state governments. “The Corporation has written to the government, seeking direction to merge two houses. If the government permits, then the Corporation can take action in this regard. If we go for a merger of two houses to allocate it for a civic worker, we will need an additional Rs 10 crore to complete
128 houses for civic workers,” explained commissioner Nazeer.

Also during the meeting, the Opposition Councillors wanted to know the reason for the delay in clearing pending bills for the contractors, which is further delaying the start of fresh works. They alleged that the bills nearing to Rs 10 crore are pending for the last 14 months. The election for the Council of the Corporation is fast approaching and the corporators are unable to take up work in their wards, they added. An Opposition leader also demanded details on the financial condition of the Corporation. Nazeer said that the payment for the contractors under maintenance category has been cleared till November 2018 but is pending for the last one year for civil works. He assured that by March 2019, the pending bills will be reduced to six months.

Commissioner Nazeer also said that tender was being called for the installation of LED lights in two days This was in response to a complaint from a councilor that LED lights in her area lasted not more than a year- and its been dark at night in that area-for which Nazeer said that there is a provision to repair those LED lights. Also, complaints about out-of-town residents dumping garbage at the Paachanady landfill was raised, and in reply, Nazeer assured of installing CCTV’s to check into the movement into the landfill.