Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (CLP)

Mangaluru, Jun 30: Chaos prevailed during the council meeting of Mangaluru City Corporation here on Monday June 29 with the opposition BJP staging a protest over the stalling of renovation work on Town Hall.

Opposition leader and Kannur corporator Sudhir Shetty raised questions over the delay in completion of Town Hall renovation work and said, "The renovation work began 10 months back but still the work has not been completed. The district incharge minister has given assurance to complete it within four months from now, but when I visited Town Hall only four workers were present without any tools. How will the work get completed if this is the case?"

Mayor Jacintha Alfred in reply said, "The work has resumed, and four estimates are already prepared and short-term tenders have already been called. The work will be completed on time - within four months."

Unhappy with the reply, BJP's Premananda Shetty said, "The renovation work on Town Hall is in total confusion, there is no concrete plan to execute it."

The BJP members then staged a protest in front of the mayor and refused to allow the proceedings to continue.

Commissioner incharge Gokuldas Nayak said, "The renovation work was supposed to be completed by end of December 2014, but due to technical problems it has stalled for months. The Nirmiti Kendra which was given Rs 99 lac for the renovation has resumed the work and rest of the work like stage curtains, lighting, sound system etc has been segregated item wise and four estimates have been prepared. The work will be completed within four months."

BJP corporator Sudhir Shetty showed a letter by former MCC commissioner Hephsiba Rani Korlapati written to the state government on the poor quality of renovation work on Town Hall. A chaos erupted in the meeting when mayor verified that it was not an authenticated signed letter.

Solid Waste Management

Corporator Vinay Kumar raised questions over the alleged poor services of Antony Waste Management company and said, " Antony Waste Management company is not doing its job properly. The door-to-door collection is done but not systematically, roads are not being swept, and lacs of MCC money is being wasted. Even the segregation of garbage is not being done."

Premananda Shetty said, "They (Antony company) are collecting waste only from houses, but waste from commercial buildings is thrown on roadsides. The waste bin system has again started in the city."

In defence, the officer incharge from Antony Waste Management company said that the waste management work is going on as per the plan.

A number of other issues like water supply, drainage problems, power issues etc were also discussed.