Mangaluru: “The allegations made by the management of the St Aloysius Institution has hurt us very much. The decision to rename the road was not arrived at overnight. We followed all the procedures,” said BJP leader and Chief Whip in the MCC Council Premanand Shetty on Thursday, September 24.
His comments came in response to the allegations levelled by the management of the St Aloysius Institutions regarding the “undemocratic” renaming of the St Aloysius College Road (or Light House Hill Road) to ‘Mulky Sunder Ram Shetty Road.
Pointing out that roads were renamed without due process during the Congress’ rule, he asked, during a press meeting, why these allegations and controversies are arising now
“When a proposal is made to rename a road, there are procedures that need to be followed. We have followed all the procedures and rules. We can show all the proof for the same. Such a procedure takes almost a year’s time, and any objection is there, a meeting will be arranged to sort out the differences after which further action is decided. But in yesterday’s road renaming case, no one raised any objections. There was a meeting called of the concerned parties in February 2020 and since there were no respondents, we forwarded the decision to the government,” he said adding that everything was done as per rules, not in an undemocratic way and that too not overnight.
Speaking at the presser, MCC Mayor Diwakar Pandeshwar urged the people to pay their property taxes by September 30 in order to avoid a penalty. “The deadline was extended twice in the wake of the lockdown, but September 30 will be the last date to make the payment. The payment of water bills should also be done soon. Since there were a few complaints regarding the water charges, we have decided to hold a water Adalat in October to settle these issues,” he said.
Regarding the putting-up of illegal publicity materials, the Mayor said that three days’ time was given to those who erected the material, three days after which all illegal publicity materials were removed by the MCC. “If someone wants to put up an important hoarding/banner, they should take permission from the MCC. Very soon, we will start evicting street vendors conducting illegal business on footpaths, thereby obstructing commuters,” he added.
He further said, “During the recent MCC council meeting, water fares were revised as follows and the new charges for 0-10 kilo-litre will be Rs 6 per kilo-litre, 10-15 kilo-litre – Rs 7 per kilo-litre, 15–25 kilo-litre – Rs 9 per kilo-litre, 25-30 kilo-litre – Rs 11 per kilo-litre, 30 kilo-litre and above – Rs 13 per kilo-litre. Citizens should make a note that we have revised the solid waste disposal fees. The fees have been lowered and the rates are now Rs 30 for properties up to 500 sq feet built-up area, Rs 60 for properties from 501 sq feet to 1,000 sq feet, and Rs 80 for properties from 1,001 square feet to 1,500 square feet.”
Regarding the renaming of the Lady Hill Circle to Shree Narayana Guru Circle, the Mayor said that the decision on the same will be taken during the next month’s council meeting.
The Mayor also stated that a fine will be levied against those flouting COVID-19 precautionary rules as many people have been seen moving around without masks. He urged the people to take precautions as the COVID-19 cases and deaths have been spiking in the city.
Deputy Mayor Vedavathi, Corporators Poornima, Sudhir Shetty Kannur, Kadri Manohar Shetty, and others were also present.
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