The Hindu
Mangalore, Jun 24: The officials of the Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) and the city police will undertake a joint survey to identify the spots and plan the development of bus stops here from Wednesday, Mayor M. Shankar Bhat told presspersons on Tuesday.
The joint exercise will involve visits to 39 spots in the city, which have been identified for development by the traffic police. The traffic police have recommended the construction of new bus stops at 25 spots, and other development works such as construction of bus bays in the rest of the spots.
New bus stops are proposed to come up at the following spots: Kottara Chowki; in between Ashoknagar and Kavitha Residency; opposite Infosys; Kodikal; near water treatment plant at Bendoor; Karavali Circle; Kuthkori Gudde; Monkey Stand; Attarvara Katte; opposite Indira Hospital at Falnir; Milagres; Rao and Rao Circle; Lady Goshen; opposite University College; four bus stops opposite the mosque on Lighthouse Hill Road; three at Jyothi Circle; opposite Gold Finch hotel on Bunts Hostel road; near hostel compound at PVS Circle; Bavutagudde Road in Bejai; and Bejai Circle.
Mayor M. Shankar Bhat circulated a list of ongoing and proposed development projects within the city corporation limits at the press conference. These development projects are being funded by the Chief Minister’s special grant of Rs. 100 crore.
The Mayor’s move comes in response to the recent allegations by vice-president of the district Congress Committee D’Souza that the wards represented by Congress councillors were being neglected by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
According to the list, the corporation has spent Rs. 13.01 crore till May 31 from the Rs. 17 crore that had been released under the Chief Minister’s special grant. The list specifically mentions about the progress of each of the projects.
One of the major components of the list is the concreting of the city’s roads. Once completed, the project would have cost Rs. 64.24 crore and cover 17 main thoroughfares in the city. Eight of these roads are under construction and Rs. 2.17 crore had been spent on their construction. Work on nine roads is yet to start.
Mr. Bhat said that land acquisition for the proposed service bus stop at Pumpwell circle was under process, even as Rs. 5 crore had already been spent on that account.
The corporation would require about 25 acres of land for this purpose and the Rs. 5 crore had served to fund only a fraction of this land requirement, he said.
Displaying the list as a mark of the MCC’s transparency under his leadership, Mr. Bhat invited the Opposition councillors to scrutinise the document and compare it with the facts. He said that the Congress ruled the MCC for 30 years, before the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power, and had not shown any noteworthy development in that period.