Demand to set up ward committees

Harini from Shivabag said that there is a need to constitute ward committees in cities which have more than three lakh population and awareness needs to be created in this regard.

The ward committees will help to solve the problems. The MCC should take up the issue of constituting ward committees on a priority basis, she urged.

MCC Commissioner Mohammed Nazeer said that the agenda has already been placed in the council meeting. A committee has been constituted to look into the issue. But no decision has been taken in this regard so far, he added.

Opposition leader in MCC Council Premananda Shetty said, “The MLA had raised the issue in the MCC meeting. The agenda should be placed in the next meeting too.”

MLA Vedavyas Kamath said, “The people have asked me to constitute ward committees while campaigning during the Assembly election. All measures will be taken in this regard.”

Row over flex boards

Environmentalist Shashidhar Shetty charged that the official, who had removed illegal flex boards, has been transferred.

He urged the MCC to utilise the green cess collected from the taxpayers. There are 800 open wells in MCC jurisdiction. But due to the faulty UGD system, the wells have been polluted and the residents are forced to depend on water from Thumbe, he said.

Reacting to the transfer of the officer, Standing Committee on Taxation and Finance Chairman Radhakrishna said, “There are several illegal hoardings in the city. The standing committee had decided to clear unauthorised flex boards.”

“I too have raised the issue of transfer of the officer. Following a complaint on poor tax collection, the officer was transferred. If the officer has done injustice, I too will condemn it,” he said.

The MLA said the issue will be taken up with the urban development minister.

Compensation for land

Teena Sequeira of Ashok Nagara said, “ A public road has been laid in our land without seeking our permission. I have been running around for the last one-and-a-half years seeking compensation for the land.”

Joint Commissioner Gokuldas Nayak said, “Of the three-and-a-half cents land, two-and-a-half cents has been used for the road. Suitable compensation will be paid after discussing the issue with the commissioner.”

However, Standing Committee Chairman Radhakrishna said, “There was a pedestrian path in the past. Now, it has been developed as a road. There is no objection to the issue of compensation for the extent of land used for laying the road.”

Social activist Hanumanth Kamath demanded to know how a road can be laid without getting permission from the landowner. There is a need to take strict action against those who are responsible for the mess, he urged.

The MLA said, “To provide justice to the family, a meeting of the local corporator, officials, and myself will be convened. All efforts will be made to solve the problem.”

UGD problem

Usha from Bajal-Goothadka said that there is no UGD system in her area. The residents of Goothadka face acute shortage of water, she said.

The officer said that six houses face a shortage of water. “We will set up a tank to supply water to these houses shortly.”

Sathish from Mission Gori Road said that a transformer needs to be shifted from the vicinity. Though the officials had shifted it, within a few hours it was brought back to the same place.

A Mescom official said that the transformer will be shifted after taking permission from the MCC.