Udupi: Senior Congress leader, former Zilla Panchayat member and Standing Committee President Janardhan Thonse took charge as the new chairman of the Udupi Urban Development Authority (UUDA) on Wednesday, March 4. The post of the UUDA chairman had remained vacant for past 4 years.
On behalf of the Deputy Commissioner, Pramod Madhwaraj (Udupi MLA) handed over the charge to the new chairman, Janardhan Thonse.
Speaking on the occasion, MLA Pramod Madhwaraj said that the Urban Development Authority should have a corruption free environment and authority should live up to the expectations of the poor. “435 applications are pending in the UDA and should be cleared as early as possible. The state government has enforced ‘Akrama Sakrama’ after the consultation and approval from Karnataka High Court and since it comes under the purview of the UDA, every effort should be made to reach out to the people. A recommendation has been made to the Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development H K Patil, regarding 9-11 which is creating hurdles to the people. A recommendation to exclude Udupi district from coming under the 9-11 censor has been made to the Minister and he will present his stand in the cabinet for approval.”
Janardhan Thonse, President of Urban Development Authority, said that his aim will be to ensure that a corruption free environment is made available to the people. “The staff should ensure that the problems of every section of the people are addressed to uplift equality. The UDA will ensure that the land for construction of houses will be made available to the poor people coming under the purview of the UUDA. Sincere efforts will be made to continue the development projects by taking all the members and the public into confidence,” he added.
Udupi CMC president Yuvaraj, KSDL chairperson Veronica Cornelio, Zilla Panchayat member Divakar Kundar, former Zilla Panchayat president Sarasu D Bangera, UUDA Commissioner D Manjunath, CMC Councillors and Taluk panchayat members were present on the occasion.