Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) and Mangaluru Smart City Ltd (MSCL) Should FIRST Fix the Dilapidated/Pathetic Facilities/Equipment Inside Kadri Park & then Construct a Rs 50 Lakhs 65 m Tall Flag Post
Mangaluru: Who would ever think of constructing a freaking FLAG POST costing nearly Rs 50 Lakhs? The perfect answer would be the so-called ‘Educated Officials’ from MCC and MSCL. And why would they take such a decision and plan on constructing a 65 m tall FLAG POST, because they are not using their hard-earned money, rather than utilizing taxpayers’ money?
It is learnt that plans are afoot to construct a flag post of 65-metre height at the Kadri Park in the city through the Mangaluru Smart City Limited (MSCL). Mayor Sudheer Shetty Kannur, along with officials of the MSCL and Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) who had visited Kadri Park a couple of days ago, has discussed with the urban development department and decided to implement the project, costing around Rs 50 lakh and the work is likely to begin soon.
MCC Mayor Sudheer Shetty Kannur along with MCC and MSCL officials, including General Manager (Technical) MSCL Er Arun Prabha (seen at far right)
The Mayor had said, “We have prepared an initial plan for the construction of a flag post in the park. The tri-colour on the tallest flag post will be visible from various parts of the city, who visited Kadri Park as part of the project. The proposal was discussed at the MSCL board of directors meeting held recently. I made a presentation on the project during a video conference chaired by district in-charge secretary LK Atheeq, who is also the chairman of the MSCL. The chairman has given his approval for the project during the meeting,”. An MSCL official said that a detailed estimate will be prepared soon. A flag post of 110 feet was constructed at the national highway junction in Thokkottu last year.
No doubt Kadri Park is in shambles, due to non-maintenance and negligence. People who are trying to make use of the facilities are facing hurdles due to certain civic issues, and even after many complaints, no action has been taken by the concerned authorities, either from Mangaluru Smart City, Mangaluru City Corporation, MCC Mayor, MCC Commissioner or the area ward corporator. And instead of rectifying the growing problems faced by the walkers/joggers using the park, and also those who come to spend their leisure time, surprisingly our MCC/MSCL officials have chalked out plans for further development, that too a freaking Flag post, -which makes no sense.
There are a bunch of civic issues haunting the citizens and others who use Kadri Park. With the growing number of street vendors doing business on the pathway of the walkers, people are facing inconveniences, with all the garbage left behind by the vendors, and the area is in a total mess, with mosquitoes breeding giving a chance to spread diseases like Dengue, Malaria etc. Yes, not everyone loves dogs, but with a bunch of stray dogs loitering around the area, many walkers have stopped using the park for walking or running. Dogs are seen sitting or sleeping at the park entrance or they block the pathway, making it hard for walkers and joggers to move by. Few being scared of these stray dogs, have stopped using this road, instead they walk on the NH roadside, which is a safety hazard.
Apart from dogs, daily in the morning a herd of cows, big and small wander on this stretch of Kadri Park road creating a nuisance for motorists and walkers. These cows are seen eating the plants and cow dung is seen on the pathway, which is yet another nuisance to the people trying to use the area. With many complaints made to the MCC, MSCL and police authorities, no one has taken any action- and people have to bear with the nuisance of these four-legged animals.
For the entire park which hundreds of people visit daily, the park has provided a tiny toilet, with minimum urinals. The men’s toilet is stinking, and the wash sink has gone filthy, which shows no one is maintaining the toilets. Black and brown stains are seen all around the toilet. A very pathetic situation someone has to bear with when using the toilet facility. Many of the adult exercise equipment are rusted or painted worn out, so the children’s play area is also not maintained, with play equipment being rusted or paint worn out.
The historic Gangana Palla Tank inside Kadri Park got a new look after the Mangalore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) undertook its rejuvenation work in January 2023 costing around Rs 40 lakhs, where the Palla can cater to water requirements of the park for one month has stopped working due to lack of maintenance and negligence.
Spread on about an acre within the 18-acre Kadri Park, the Palla was desilted up to a depth of about 10 m while the vegetation was cleared by MUDA. Kadri Park had not been in good shape due to a lack of water for the plants as the park did not have a proper water storage facility.
Due to negligence, water has gone low, filled with algae and grass, and no water is used from here to water the plants in the park, and many of them have dried up or died. The fountain with novel technology was being built for Rs 17 lakh by the authority, which required about 1.2 lakh litres of water to remain operative and there would not be much wastage as the water gets recirculated, however, it looks like the money spent has gone down the drain.
Except for the walkway inside the park that looks clean and maintained, the rest of the area in the park is filled with dry leaves, broken tree branches, and garbage scattered, and the paint on the benches donated by Lions Club of Kadri Hills has worn out or is in bad shape. Broken concrete benches could be seen lying on the grass unattended for a long time. A large pool of stranded water has accumulated near the Children’s Play area, putting their lives at risk. These are a few issues that Team Mangalorean noticed inside Kadri Park on Wednesday morning, but there could be many other issues still existing at the park.
So, when all these civic issues are creating lots of inconveniences and hardships for the people, it would be nice of the Mayor MCC Commissioner or MSCL officials to address these issues with the concerned authorities, before implementing/constructing the Rs 50 lakh worth FLAG POST.
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