Panel to monitor water levels at dams, weirs, says mayor

Mayor Harinath said that the Mangalore City Corporation commissioner has submitted a proposal to the deputy commissioner to set up a district-level committee to monitor the water levels at all weirs and dams. 

The committee is to be headed by deputy commissioner and will monitor the water level at Thumbe vented dam too, the mayor specified.

Harinath was speaking at the monthly meeting on Monday. “The initiative has been taking after being jolted by the water crisis and to ensure that the situation does not recur. The water-level in Thumbe dam – the main drinking water source for Mangaluru city – has dropped to 3.5- feet as against the 13-feet capacity. The MCC has, therefore, sent a proposal to the district administration to manage the source of water better. All the stakeholders will be made part of the committee,” he added.

The Mayor thanked the citizens and all stakeholders for supporting the MCC during the crisis. He said it is to the credit of the engineering section of the city and all officials concerned that the city overcame the crisis. 

The corporators said that the MCC should draw a plan to ensure that the crisis do not recur in the future. “Rainwater harvesting should be made compulsory for commercial, residential and industrial buildings in MCC limits. The officials, while issuing building licences, should impose a condition to harvest rainwater. Also, while issuing completion certificates, they should check if the condition was adhered to,” they insisted.

To a query, MCC Commissioner Dr H N Gopalakrishna said that he had directed the officials not to issue trade licence and temporary door numbers to those who had failed to adhere to the conditions while constructing a building. 

When corporator Abdul Azeez raised issue on loopholes in the garbage collection by Antony Waste Handling Cell Pvt Ltd, the standing committee president Kavitha Sanil said that she had directed the contractor not to mix soil and garbage while transporting it to the landfill site. Not satisfied with the answer, the corporator continued to level allegations, which led to chaos in the meeting. 

Feasibility report
The Council of the City Corporation resolved to ask the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) to prepare a financial and technical feasibility report for the construction of the Kadri market, a multi-level car parking at Hampankatte, the Kankanady commercial complex and the Pumpwell bus terminal. 

The agenda said that tender was invited for appointment of an expert for financial and technical feasibility report. No organisation or individual participated in the tender process, forcing the MCC to hand over to the KUIDFC to prepare a report.