Mayor failed to meet expectations: MCC Opposition leader

Opposition leader of the council in Mangaluru City Corporation Roopa D Bangera accused that no development work has taken place during the tenure of outgoing Mayor Harinath.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, she said that barring the inauguration of a dining hall adjacent to Town Hall in Mangaluru no other development works have taken place during his tenure. “We had a lot of expectations from him as a senior leader of the Council. Unfortunately, he has not lived up to the expectations during the tenure,” said Bangera.

She said though a dining hall constructed adjacent to Town Hall was inaugurated in a hurry, it is not suitable for staging plays and Yakshagana. “Even Tulu theatre artistes have recently said that the dining hall is not suitable for use without proper lighting and sound systems. A lack of proper auditorium or Rangamandira is an injustice to artistes,” she felt.

Bangera said that the Mayor’s promise of a ‘plastic-free’ Mangaluru too could not be fulfilled. “Although the authorities had distributed a few cloth bags among schoolchildren, there are no details on the same. The Mayor had promise to make the city free from flexes, but flexes and hoardings have popped up across the city.

The promise of hi-tech toilets, hi-tech markets and bus shelter have not seen the light of the day,” she listed out.

“When the Corporation decided to utilise the fund under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme for repair works, the Opposition filed a complaint to the under secretary to the government, which in turn issued a direction to the civic body on the fund utilisation. As a result, the ruling party had to face embarrassment,” she said.

When the tests asserted that excess amount of coliform is found in the drinking water supplied from Thumbe dam, the ruling party failed to initiate any measures to rectify the problem, Bangera said and added that the drinking water being supplied to the city from the Netravathi at the Thumbe vented dam was polluted as untreated sewage was being let directly into the river at different places in the Bantwal.

In spite of possessing valid documents to prove that the road that passes through Kadri Park from Circuit House is named after Swami Vivekananda, the Mayor got it removed, she said.

Finding fault in setting up of three zonal offices of Mangaluru City Corporation, Bangera said that the residents of Bajal, Kannur, Jeppinamogaru, Padil, Alape face inconvenience with the closure of Kadri sub-office and shifting of Zone III to Corporation building at Lalbagh. The Zone III should be retained at Kadri sub-office for the benefit of the citizens, she added.