JOIN US'Ashraya' reverberates at MCC Council meeting
The DC taken this decision on the issue after a surprise visit to Ramabai Nagar last week.
As the Ashraya issue echoed in the council meet, the councillors demanded that the houses be returned to the beneficiaries. The councillors criticised the unilateral move of the DC in locking the houses and re-allotting them among the slum dwellers to rehabilitate the homeless families.
During the general debate, BJP member Linganna raised the issue saying, the beneficiaries, a majority of them poor had raised money by coughing up heavy interest and paid towards the registration of the houses.
“How will the beneficiaries live in a locality without basic amenities like drinking water, UGD lines, roads and bus services? Now, the officials have extended few facilities after DC’s visit,” he said.
Blame game
Mayor Sandesh Swamy, who was quick to respond passed the buck on the state government. “It is your own party which has assumed power in the state.
The Government is responsible for DC’s action,” he told the BJP councillor and added: “We will intervene on humanitarian basis as the MLA is the Chairman of the Ashraya committee. We can only ask the administration to identify the genuine beneficiaries and return them the houses and extend basic amenities in the locality where Ashraya houses are built.”
Corporator Bhyrappa intervened and took exception to Mayor’s words and said the MCC cannot shirk its responsibility. The Ashraya houses were not even fit to be converted into pigsty, leave alone humans.
He also took a dig at the district administration and MCC officials for razing houses in revenue layouts.
The gullible people are victimised and are made to suffer following nexus between the land mafia and the officials, the corporator said.
Illegal khathas
MCC authorities are issuing hundreds of illegal khathas. These khathas come sans photo identity, which has turned a menace and blessing in disguise for land mafia, he said.
“If the administration is really concerned about encroachment of revenue land, they must act against land mafia and the officers who collude with them and put them behind bars,” he added.
A letter from the DC and NURM office asking few corporators to attend a meeting also stirred a hornet’s nest. Members Cheluve Gowda and others took exception, while Mayor Sandesh Swamy said probably the DC had no confidence in officers implementing Nurm schemes.
Earlier, Mayor Sandesh Swamy and MUDA Chairman and corporator Nagendra met a group of people, aggrieved by DC’s action on Ashraya houses who were sitting on a dharna outside MCC.
Both assured the people to take up the issue with District Minister and resolve their woes.