Mayor Clarifies Visit to Bengaluru to Meet CM
Mangaluru: Mayor Harinath held a press meet at his chamber, MCC premises here on June 10. Addressing the mediapersons, Harinath said that the district minister in-charge B Ramanath Rai had invited MCC officials to Bengaluru to meet the Minister for Urban Development Vinay Kumar Sorake and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, to discuss various development projects coming under the Mangaluru City Corporation.
Harinath said, “This year the people of Dakshina Kannada faced severe water crisis. We have discussed this matter to find a permanent solution for the problem. We also discussed how to solve the 9/11 issue and the sanction of Rs 10 crore to complete the construction work of Lady Goschen Hospital.”
He further said that earlier a single tender to carry out the development work under MCC had to be approved by the deputy commissioner. “But we have requested the CM to pass an order to approve all the tenders in the MCC itself; this order will be passed within a few days. Within the MCC limits, there are many development projects for which we need to send files to Bengaluru a couple of times for approval and so the work is being delayed. In this regard, we have also requested an increment in the grant from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore.”
He also said that the Kadri and Kankanady markets are under administrative and technical process, and the development work in Kavoor and Kavoor Junction markets will start soon. “We are also constructing night shelters for the homeless on the old port road and the inauguration of the same will be held soon,” he added.
When asked if the meeting in Bengaluru with the CM had another purpose, to complain about senior Congress leader Janardhan Poojary, as alleged by some Congress members, Mayor Harinath said, “There is no need to go to Bengaluru to complain against anyone. I have been a hardcore member of the Congress since 1976. Why should I go to Bengaluru to complain against anyone? If I want to complain, I will call everyone and complain here in Mangaluru.”
When asked why the Mayor had gone with Hemanath, Harinath said, “I don’t know why Hemanath was in Bengaluru. He might have had some work in Bengaluru as his wife is a Zilla Panchayat member.”
MCC commissioner Dr Gopalkrishna, Corporators Sashidhar Hegde, Lancelot Pinto, Appi and others were also present.
