BC Road-Surathkal four-lane to be ready by March end

Meet demands to increase in funds for housing schemes

All the work related to the four-laning of the stretch between B C Road to Surathkal will be completed by March end, said an official from National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). 

Speaking at the district vigilance and monitoring committee meeting chaired by MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, the official said that all pending work on fly over at B C Road and Surathkal will be completed by second week of March. 

When the MP asked why no service road was laid at Kodikal, the official said that there was no land available for service road. The work on the service road at Kottara will be started soon. 

National HighwayThe engineer from National Highway said that three work were sanctioned to Dakshina Kannada this year. These include, Bellecharu bridge at a cost of Rs 162.29 lakh, road from B C Road to Ujire at a cost of Rs 14 crore and Padil to Pumpwell at a cost of Rs 1.36 crore. Tenders have been invited for all the three work, he added. 

The MP directed the officials to see that the work on Bellecharu bridge gets completed before monsoon, as the bridge provides a vital link between Mangalore and Moodbidri on National Highway-13. Owing to lack of bridge, people face hardship. 

The official informed the meeting that patchwork of Shiradi Ghat has been completed. The MP said that Mani-Puttur road will be completed by March end. The road from Puttur to Kumbra would be completed by May end. 

HonorariumNalin Kumar Kateel urged the officials to ensure that there was no delay in disposing the files related to monthly honorarium for the aged. The honorarium should be paid without any delay. Kateel and Assembly Deputy Speaker Yogish Bhat took the officials to task for delaying the process of data entry of the beneficiaries. The honourarium have been sanctioned to 977 beneficiaries in January. The data of about 4,103 applications are pending to be fed into the software. 

Community workThe MP directed the Taluk Panchayat EOs to give emphasis to community work rather than individual work under MGNREGS, to check misappropriation of funds.

Yogish Bhat said that there is a need to incorporate innovative ideas while implementing MGNREGS. 

Mangalore Taluk Panchayat EO said that the work on 46 Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendras have been started in the taluk. The work on the kendra has not been started at Sarapady, owing to non availability of land. 

Bantwal TP EO said that the work on 37 Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendras have been started, of which, five have been completed. About nine panchayats including Belma, Harekala, Kilpady, Neermarga have stated that they can not take up the work due to non availability of land in the panchayat building premises.

Belthangady taluk EO said that the work on 32 Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendras have been started. About nine GPs have problem with the land. In Sullia, the work on 21 Kendras have been started while five panchayats do not have land to take up the work. 

Housing schemeZilla Panchayat CEO Dr K N Vijayaprakash said that there is a need to accelerate the progress in the completion of housing schemes like Indira Awaz yojana, Basava Vasathi yojana. The Panchayat Development Officers have been given targets to complete the work within a stipulated period. 

Chief Project Officer Mohammed Nazeer said that delay in opening bank accounts in the name of beneficiaries by Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation in Basava Vasathi Scheme is a major hurdle in the completion of the houses under the scheme. 

“The Corporation itself opens account in the name of the beneficiaries. Moreover, the accounts are opened in State Bank of Mysore only. There is a need for decentralisation of system. For availing four installments, the beneficiaries will have to travel 50 to 70 km as taluk headquarters have only one SBM branches,” he said. 

Resolution The meeting resolved to write to the government to increase funds under housing scheme as the available funds for the construction of a house is meager.