Speaking at the council meet here on Thursday, Independent Member Mariamma Thomas said that the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) blame MCC for the delay in the four-laning works. “NHAI had already deposited Rs 14 crore to shift the pipelines. However, MCC could not complete the shifting work even after spending nearly Rs 9 crore,” she charged.
Answering to Mariamma’s allegations, MCC Assistant Executive Engineer Gopal Gowda said that it was NHAI’s failure that they did not identify land to shift the pipelines. “NHAI had already acquired land for the road. However, they did not acquire additional land to shift the pipelines,” he added.
Meanwhile, Senior Member M Shanker Bhat said that the allegations of NHAI are baseless. “We had taken up work as much as possible. Because of their fault, the work is being delayed,” he added.
‘Dissolve core committee’
Members in the Opposition Shashidhar, Harinath and Mariamma questioned the legality of the Core Committee, which was set up by the MCC to monitor the implementation of development works in the City. They demanded that the committee should be dissolved as it is not constitutional.
Mayor Rajani Dugganna said that the Committee is not constitutional and clarified that it was formed when members were raising allegations of MCC being partial in releasing development funds for wards. “If the members are not happy with the functioning of the committee, we will dissolve it,” she added.
‘Rs 50 lakh each for wards’
Quoting Mayor’s assurance of sanctioning Rs 50 lakh each for the development of wards, Corporator Sudheer Shetty said that priority should be given for the development of interior roads. Another Member James D’Souza urged that the funds should be released immediately and all roads in the City should be repaired.
The Mayor said that the State government has already approved to sanction Rs 100 crore for the development of Mangalore City. “Each ward will be getting Rs 50 lakh for development works. All engineers have been asked to expedite the development works and make all roads motorable by November,” she added.
SAS taxation
Member Thilakraj urged that the tax payers under the Self Assessment Scheme (SAS) should be given relaxation in rules and penalty should not be levied for the current fiscal year in the wake confusions about the scheme. Answering to the issue, Commissioner Dr K N Vijayaprakash said that MCC cannot take a decision as it is mandatory under Sections 112 and 114 of the KMC Act. “We can only send a recommendation to the government seeking exemption from penalty,” he added.
DH News Service