Misappropriation smelt in Mangaluru Indira Canteen
Members allege irregularities
Mayor promises of taking action
Mangaluru, December 26: As corporators alleged misappropriation in the Indira canteens in the city limits, mayor Bhaskar K promised of taking action if the allegation is proved.
The corporators raised the issue in the city corporation general body meeting chaired by Mayor Bhaskar K here on Wednesday.
In the meeting, member Vijay Kumar said that except Lady Goshan, misappropriation was smelt in all Indira Canteens. In some canteens, though 100 members have breakfast and lunch, they produce the bills of 500 customers. The city corporation has already provided Rs 70 lakh to maintain the canteens. A good scheme is suspected to be misused in the city, he said.
Responding to the allegation, the mayor said that he would ask the authorities to visit the canteens and check the CCTV footage to identify the misappropriation and take action.
Street lights to be converted into LED
When the corporators raised the issue of mismanagement of street lights, Corporation Commissioner Muhammad Nazeer said that all street lights in the city would be converted into LED lights, for which a tender would be called in a couple of days.
Members angry over UGD problem
Corporator Madhukiran alleged that UGD water is flowing in the open drainage in the city causing health problems. Another member Abdur Ravoof also said though Septic Treatment Plants (STPs) have commissioned in Bazal, Padeel, Faizal areas, they were not functioning properly.
Reacting to it, the Commissioner said that the UGD works under KUDSEMP works, second stage ADB project, Smart City Project and Amruth Project were taken up in the city at a cost of Rs 507 crore.
On Pachchanadi dumping yard problem, the Commissioner said that spot inspection was done. There was a complaint that the garbage was being dumped from other places during night. In order to keep a vigil on it, authorities were directed to install CCTV cameras and close compound gate, he said.
Deputy mayor Muhammad K, standing committee presidents Praveen Chandra Alva, Naveen D’Souza, Radhakrishna, Latha Salian were present.
Bill payment issue rocks corporation meeting
When member Dayananda Shetty raised the issue that the bills of contractors of various development works in the city corporation limits were not cleared for the last 11 months, Opposition Leader Premananda Shetty said that the corporation has to clear more than Rs 50 crore dues. As a result, the development works were suspended. How the quality works could be expected from the contractors, he asked.
Demanding the financial status of the corporation, Premananda Shetty said that lot of programmes were sanctioned under general funds. But he has doubt about the funds to be provided to such works. If the election is announced, the works would be hampered, he said.
Commissioner Nazeer said that bill payment on general funds was being made in three sections. Bills related to maintenance were cleared up to November, while bills of water supply and UGD were cleared up to July. But the bills of other works were pending for the last one year. Property tax from February to April would be collected. At this time, the bills of the contractors would be cleared and this is the regular process, he said.
But the Opposition members were not happy about the answer. Chief Whip Shashidhar Hegde said that such development works which were not taken up in the history of the corporation, have been completed in the last five years, for which ruling party members applauded.
When Hegde continued his speech, opposition member Poornima objected to it and went before the mayor chair and alleged that no action was taken to supply 24*7 water and all his claims are false.
Due to war of words between ruling and opposition parties, commotion created in the house. When the opposition members demanded resolution on bill clearance, mayor Bhaskar opposed it saying that the corporation would take action. He has sought special funds from the Chief Minister and it would come within a week, he said.
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Rajasthan: Tigress linked to 2 human kills returns to enclosure in MHTR after ‘brief escape’
Kota (Rajasthan) (PTI): The sighting of MT-8 or ‘Kankati’, a tigress linked to two fatal attacks on humans in neighbouring Ranthambore that escaped from its designated 82-sq km enclosure in the Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve here, triggered brief panic and halted traffic in the area.
However, the radio-collared tigress, which escaped on Tuesday morning, returned to its place in the forest later in the day, Muthu S, Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF), Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (MHTR), told PTI. Kankati gained notoriety for two human kills in the Ranthambore forest range earlier this year, after which she was relocated to the MHTR on June 19.
After spending around two months in a 21-hectare enclosure, Kankati was reintroduced into the wild on August 15 when she was released into the 82-sq km enclosure in the Dara forest area of MHTR.
At around 11 am on Tuesday, the tigress escaped from its designated enclosure and crossed the road, creating panic and halting traffic on both sides briefly.
Sensing the presence of the big cat, a few cattle hurriedly escaped from the spot, while some passersby, including a few cops, were seen filming the animal crossing the road with their mobile phones.
Muthu said the tigress crossed the Batwada road, which is a part of MHTR, before returning to her enclosure in the Dara forest range later in the day.
The tigress is radio-collared and tracked by three forest teams round the clock, the DCF said, adding that since the animal was under watch, the areas around the road were already cordoned off.
Forest teams remain particularly alert in the area after a tigress was run over by a train when it wandered from the Ranthambore forest range 20 years ago, the DCF said.
Wildlife enthusiast Brijesh Vijayvergiya, however, termed the movement of the tigress a result of “careless” monitoring and “inadequate” safety measures in the MHTR for which he held the forest department responsible.
“Taking a lesson from the accidental death of a tigress 20 years ago, the forest department should have erected fencing to prevent wild animals from crossing the road or the railway track. In the absence of fencing, the tigress Kankati ventured out and crossed the road, thus risking her life,” Vijayvergiya told PTI.
