Lokayukta police conducts surprise inspection, finds irregularities in Mangaluru City Corporation

Mangaluru: The Lokayukta police have found several irregularities in the revenue, health, engineering, accounts, town planning sections and the Commissioner’s office in clearing the files at the Mangaluru City Corporation.

A team of officers led by Mangaluru Lokayukta office DySP Dr Gana P Kumar, inspectors Suresh Kumar P, Bharathi G and Chandrashekar KN along with Manjunath and Rajendra Naik MN (Inspectors from Udupi Lokayukta Police Station), conducted a surprise inspection at MCC based on a search warrant issued by the Lokayukta.

Mangaluru Lokayukta in charge SP Kumarachandra said during the inspection, it was revealed that brokers are active in the Revenue and Town Planning offices. An amount of Rs 5 lakh was found in possession of one such broker.

A retired officer who served as a Health Officer with the Corporation had continued to function in the same position for 15 years after retirement, reflecting a clear case of administrative misconduct, he said.

Further, in the Health section, several trade license files were found pending on the MCC trade license website. Licenses had not been renewed, and the corresponding fees were not collected.

In the Engineering department, many old files were left uncleared. In the Accounts section, bills were not settled within the stipulated time, leaving many pendency.

The Town Planning department was found issuing building permits without adhering to regulations. Demolition orders had been issued for buildings that violated building by-laws, but engineers and the commissioner had illegally granted approvals to such constructions, in violation of the rules, he said.

The Lokayukta officers noted that executive engineers, assistant executive engineers, and other officers in charge of the city’s drainage supervision were found to have allowed unauthorised discharge of wastewater from buildings into storm water drains and rajakaluve. No action was taken against these violations, leading to unsanitary conditions in several residential areas during the rainy season.

Furthermore, sewage treatment plants (STPs) and wet wells were not being maintained properly. Despite the existing underground drainage (UGD) network lacking capacity to treat wastewater from apartment complexes with more than 25 units, permissions were granted without mandating STP construction.

A comprehensive report on the irregularities will be submitted to the Lokayukta headquarters, said in charge SP Kumarachandra.