Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (CLP)

Mangaluru, Mar 31: The council meeting of Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) here on Monday March 30 witnessed an uproar with opposition alleging poor services by Antony Waste Handling Pvt Ltd. A few members even took out placards and protested in front of mayor Jacinta Alfred demanding immediate action against the company.

Opposition members alleged that MCC is collecting more taxes from people but the service provided to them is disappointing. Opposition member, Sudhir Shetty said, "Even small houses are asked to pay Rs 480 as garbage management tax. The poor people are facing problems and tax for garbage management is beyond their means. Either reduce the tax or make Antony company provide better services."

Another opposition member Roopa D Bangera said, "The services of Antony Waste Handling Pvt Ltd are very poor. It was wrong on the part of MCC to sign a contract for seven years with the company with just two months of probationary period. People will be furious over the issue and we will not have answers to give them. They have not reached places where there are no roads."

Congress members disagreed with the opposition and said that the service provided by Antony Waste Handling firm was good and showed pictures to prove their point.

Kavitha Sanil, corporator of Pachanady said, "The spill of garbage on the road near Pachanady by the garbage lorry is increasing. Some lorries are old and they have painted them green with captions such as ‘Namma Mangaluru, Swachh Mangaluru’. There are even open trucks to carry the garbage which is causing problems for people. Solution has to be provided for people’s woes."

Replying to the allegation, Hephsiba Korlapati said, "Antony Waste Handling Pvt Ltd is controlling all the work from Mumbai. They have supervised the work from the ground level. We had issued daily and weekly targets. We have noticed that the work is really disappointing on ground level. We have received a number of complaints from various wards. We had issued notices but still no changes have taken place. Hence, we have decided to hold back the tender amount payable to the company till they improve their services."

Illegal hoardings to be removed with immediate effect

Mayor Jacinta Alfred issued an order to remove all unauthorized hoardings on government properties with immediate effect, after opposition demanded the same.

Opposition member of MCC Sudhir Shetty said, "There are a number of unauthorized 10x10 hoardings in Mangaluru. The MCC has not given permission to put up any hoarding of 10x10 in government lands since 1996. MCC is facing revenue shortage but all the advertisement agencies are earning through illegal hoardings on government land. The hoardings have to be removed with immediate effect or we will intensify the protest."

He also submitted some pictures of the illegal hoardings to city mayor.

In reply to the opposition member, MCC commissioner Hephsiba Korlapati said, "We are aware of the issue and we have already conducted the meeting to take precautionary measures. We have distinguished between authorized and unauthorized hoardings on the government land. In a week, we will get a detailed report on the issue."

The officer concerned said, "We have not given any permission for anyone to advertise on government lands. We gave permission only for rallies and convention hoardings to be put on the government property. We have listed all the unauthorized hoardings and all the private hoardings will be legalized soon."

In a bid to take the chaotic situation under control in the council meeting, Mayor Jacinta Alfred issued an order to remove all the unauthorized hoardings in government lands with immediate effect. Replying to mayor, opposition members asked her to follow up the order and see whether it is implemented at ground level.

Town Hall renovation

The opposition BJP members protested over the slow renovation work of Town Hall. MCC opposition member Sudhir Shetty said, "People are suffering due to lack of space for organising events. MCC is facing revenue issues. Earlier, we used to get rent from Town Hall but it has stopped at the moment due to slow work. We demand temporary arrangements to be made near the Hall. The work has to be completed at the earliest."

In response, Hephsiba Korlapati said, "We have already called a meeting regarding the renovation of Town Hall. We have decided to issue a short tender notice and begin the work and finish it on priority so that it can be rented out for various programmes. We know the seriousness of the issue and we are taking all possible steps to complete the work."

Other issues regarding roads, water supply and drainage system were discussed at the meeting.

Purushotham Chitrapura deputy mayor was also present in the meeting.