MCC to seek Rs 120-cr for compensating Thumbe land losers

The Council of the Mangaluru City Corporation agreed to submit a proposal seeking Rs 120 crore through Visvesvaraya Neeravari Nigama as compensation for owners of the land that will be submerged if the water in Thumbe vented dam is stored at eight-metre height.

Mayor Kavitha Sanil said that about 500 acres of land – including 344.11 acre agricultural land – would be submerged if the dam is filled with water to its full capacity. “If the water is stored to its full capacity, then 17.32 MCM water would be available for use. As the Corporation cannot bear such a huge amount, it has been decided to seek grant from the chief minister,” she explained.

Breakfast for civic workers

As per the recent direction from the Department of Municipal Administration, the local civic body should provide breakfast not only for permanent civic workers or alternative civic workers but also to civic workers working on a contract basis as well.

Accordingly, the council of the corporation decided to direct Antony Waste Handling Cell Pvt Ltd and Unique Waste Processing Company Ltd, the contract agencies engaged in collecting, transporting and processing garbage in the city, to serve breakfast to the civic workers.

The Corporation will spend Rs 19,05,300 annually for serving breakfast for 219 permanent civic workers and 42 alternative civic workers. In fact, the cost of breakfast is Rs 20 each. There are 623 civic workers working for Antony Waste Handling Cell Pvt Ltd which would cost Rs 45,47,900 and 22 civic workers under Unique Waste Processing Company Ltd and would cost Rs 1,60,600.

A member said that parking area near the fish market near State Bank terminus is occupied by street vendors and the agency entrusted for collecting parking fee is collecting Rs 20 a day from street vendors, the official promised to clear the street vendors within a week.

Protest

On the protests by residents of Red Building lane, under Kankanady-Valencia ward in the city, against the move to widen a road in the ward, the mayor told the Council that the residents have been opposing even the survey of the areas to assess the extent of properties that would be affected.

As the residents have failed to cooperate with the MCC, no solution has been sorted out so far, she added.