Bantwal: Power cut, mike failure mar TP meeting, Mescom officials taken to task

Mounesh Vishwakarma
Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal (EP)

Bantwal, Jan 1: The monthly taluk panchayat meeting held at the panchayat hall and presided over by its president Lalitha Shivappa Naik was wasted in unnecessary discussions amid power and mike failures.

The general meeting is held once in a month to discuss the overall development at the taluk but the panchayat failed to provide a working mike. Some members took the president and the vice-president to task in this regard.

Ironically, when it was the turn of Mescom officials to speak about their department's work, there was a power failure, creating ruckus among the panchayat members who targeted the Mescom officials. Member Shailaja Shetty said that the junior engineers and elected representatives give evasive replies for complaints against power failure. Ida Suresh criticised the officials for removing power in the name of load shedding on Christmas day.  Zilla panchayat member Sathosh Kumar Rai urged to release a notice to the junior engineer who ignored the complaint of taluk panchayat member.  Vice-president Ananda Shamboor confronted the Mescom officials for not providing power for local needs when mini generating stations are generating enough power in the region.

As the two mikes in the hall stopped working, the people's representatives had to struggle to express their problems. Officials also could not explain the solutions.  Though some officials came forward to repair the mikes, it yielded no results.  It became inevitable to call those who had to speak to the dais one by one but only those on the dais could hear them.  Some in the gathering indulged in group talks, to which zilla panchayat member M S Mohammed raised objections.

Madhave Mave complained that the staff at the new toll plaza were arrogant and abusive and requested appropriate action in the matter.  All the members unanimously agreed to it.

The members also criticized the KSRTC for increasing fares as an excuse for toll.  The meeting agreed to write a letter to the KSRTC in this regard.

Vice-president Ananda Shamboor, committee president Sampat Kumar Shetty and executive officer Ashok Thotada were on the dais.  Members Sharif, Dinesh Amtoor, Ramesh Kudmer, Ephrom Sequeria, Zilla panchayat members Chandrapakash Shetty, Chennappa Kotian, M S Mohammed, Santosh Kumar Rai and others participated in the discussions.