During the MCC meeting here on Wednesday, Opposition members of the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) accused Mangaluru South MLA J R Lobo of flouting rules and regulations in the allotment of Ashraya houses.
Opposition members Premanand Shetty, Sudhir Kannur and Roopa Bangera raised the issue for allotment of houses to beneficiaries under Ashraya housing scheme. A total of 1,100 beneficiaries were selected initially towards the allocation of houses at Ashraya house complex in Shaktinagar but 170 names were dropped in the final list. The Opposition members accused Mangaluru South MLA of flouting regulations while making the allocation of houses. The council meeting was marred by a war of words between the Opposition and ruling party members. Alleging foul play, Opposition members conducted a protest in the well of the house.
Commissioner Mohammed Nazir clarified that 170 applications were kept pending in the wake of objections. The names of beneficiaries are not scrapped. Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation has given an in-principle approval towards the release of Rs 7.5 crore towards basic infrastructure. Under the housing scheme, the state government has approved the construction of 792 houses in Mangaluru North. The detailed project report of a housing project comprising 1,070 houses in Vamanjoor is in the making. The Opposition members sought to know the source of expenditure towards the construction of Clock Tower in Hampankatta. The Mayor said that the project is added in the list of projects to be taken up under Smart City project for the time being, along with other modernisation works in Hampankatta area. The agenda will be placed before the smart city meeting to be conducted in Bengaluru. If the proposal does not get an approval under the smart city project, then the same will be carried out with MCC funds. The clock tower will be built at a cost of Rs 90 lakh. Council members Deepak Kumar, Mahabala Marla and others complained that the members are being kept in the dark regarding the development of smart city projects.
Complaining about the lack of response by officials towards the civic issues in their respective wards, corporators Jayanti Achar and Abdul Latif, staged a dharna in the well of the council. Opposition member Vijay Kumar Shetty accused the Mayor of keeping the files pending for a long time before clearing the bills. However, the Mayor denied the allegation.
On her last MCC council meeting as the Mayor, Kavitha Sanil thanked the members of the council, MCC officials and the general public for their cooperation. Deputy Mayor Rajanish was present.
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