Sandeep Patil takes charge as the Mangaluru Police Commissioner
Mangaluru: Senior IPS officer Sandeep Patil, on Friday afternoon took charge as the Mangaluru Police Commissioner from TR Suresh, who received his transfer orders on Thursday, in a major reshuffle in the department ahead of General Elections.
Sandeep Patil, who was serving as the DIG of Bengaluru CAR unit, arrived in the city on Friday afternoon on flight and took charge of the post from TR Suresh at about 3.pm here at the commissionerate.
A 2004 batch IPS officer, Sandeep has served in Bellary, Davangere and other places as the superintendent of police, while he has earlier served Mangaluru as the ACP.
During a media briefing soon after taking the charge, Sandeep told reporters that among his main priorities will be safety of women in the city and crackdown on the drugs mafia.
“Apart from these two things, what will also be a priority is the smooth process of 2019 General elections which are due this year” Sandeep added.
“All the schemes, policies and programs initiated by my predecessor, I will take it forward and work on it constantly for the betterment of the city and its law and order” Sandeep further added.
TR Suresh, before leaving the office, met and greeted the media reporters and thanked them for their co-operation throughout his posting as the Commissioner of Mangaluru police.
Suresh was also accorded a Guard of Honor by the city police before he left the office.
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BMC turning blind eye to air pollution issue, says HC; questions nod for over 125 projects in city
Mumbai (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Wednesday castigated the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for turning a "blind eye" towards the issue of air pollution in the city and for "not doing anything" to mitigate the problem.
A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad also questioned as to how the BMC has granted sanction to over 125 construction projects over Rs 1,000 crore in a small city like Mumbai, stating that the situation has now gone beyond the civic body's control.
The court had warned the BMC that it would pass orders restraining it from granting any further permissions for construction if the air pollution situation persists in the city.
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"How can 125 projects worth more than Rs 1,000 crore be sanctioned in such a small city? That is a lot. Now the situation has gone beyond your (BMC) control. Now you are not able to manage things," HC said.
The court urged the BMC to strengthen its mechanism in such a way that the measures are preventive in nature and not remedial.
The court was hearing a bunch of petitions raising concerns over the deteriorating air quality index in the city.
"The BMC is not doing anything. Even the minimal requirement is not being done. You (BMC) don't have anything in place. There is no implementation plan," the court said.
The civic body has not applied its mind at all, it added.
"The BMC is not working at all. There is no monitoring. The BMC has turned a blind eye to the issue," the HC said, adding the measures taken have to be preventive and not remedial.
The court noted that despite having wide powers, the BMC was not doing anything.
The high court was also irked with the 91 squads of the BMC not conducting inspections at construction sites.
Senior counsel S U Kamdar, appearing for BMC, said on Tuesday 39 sites were visited. The officers of the other squads are busy with election duty, he said.
The bench then said election duty cannot be an excuse.
"You (BMC) can always make an application to the election commission seeking exemption," it said.
Kamdar told the bench that AQI on Wednesday was at 88 which is considered satisfactory. The situation last year was worse, he said.
The bench, however, said simply saying pollution has decreased does not mean the BMC was working.
When the court questioned what the corporation proposed to do in the next two weeks, BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, who was present in the court, said the squads would inspect a minimum of two construction sites per day and take necessary action.
The bench said the squads should be provided with button cameras and GPS devices.
The bench posted the matter for further hearing on January 20.
