Waste collection: MCC launches SMS helpline

Residents can SMS complaints to 81236 66266, says Dy Speaker

The Mangalore City Corporation that launched door-to-door waste collection nearly a month ago, on Thursday launched the ‘complaint handling system’ to receive complaints pertaining to solid waste collection, from the general public.

Under the new system, residents can SMS their complaints to 81236 66266, following which the complainant will receive an acknowledgement SMS on his mobile phone.

The complaint SMS should consist of the ward number and other complaint details.

The complaint SMS will be immediately forwarded to the field officer who is responsible to respond to the problem.
If the complaint is related to dust-bin clearance, then the timeframe to resolve the matter is 24 hours, while the deadline to address other problems is 72 hours.

Once the issue is resolved, a SMS will be sent to the complainant informing him/her that the matter has been resolved. If the field officer fails to resolve the issue, the SMS will be then forwarded to the MCC Commissioner, Joint Commissioner Srikanth Rao told media persons at the launching of the SMS service.

Deputy Speaker N Yogish Bhat launched the service.

Speaking to media persons prior to the launching programme, Bhat said the proposal for developing model roads in the city from Durga Mahal to Balaji Junction and from Mangala Devi to Pandeshwar, was placed for Cabinet clearance on Thursday.

Durgamahal road development work will be taken up at a cost of Rs 11 crore and Mangala Devi road will be taken up at a project cost of Rs 5 crore. “Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has sanctioned a special fund of Rs 8.5 crore for the development of interior roads in Mangalore South constituency. Of the total amount, Rs 3.6 crore has been released from the Financial Department, while the remaining amount too will be released soon,” he said.

The Deputy Speaker said that a draft for the state-level Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) has been formed and it is yet to undergo the legal scrutiny.

He also said that he has placed a demand before the government to bring in a policy that would ensure the real estate builders to reserve a specific portion of their high-rise buildings to the economically weaker section of the society as part of Corporate Social responsibility. The work on draft policy has already begun, he said.