Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Dec 30: The first round of the public meeting related to the preparation of the Mangaluru City Corporation’s budget for the 2026–27 financial year was held on December 30. Expressing disappointment over the poor turnout, district commissioner Darshan H V, who is also the administrator of the corporation, said only a handful of people had participated.

The meeting was open to registered residents’ welfare associations, registered non-governmental organisations, commercial and industrial bodies, public representatives and members of the public to offer suggestions. However, only 12 persons, including a few representatives of NGOs and members of the public, attended the meeting. The absence of former public representatives was also evident. Responding to this, Darshan H V said the number of participants giving suggestions was very low and appealed to citizens to participate in larger numbers and offer inputs during the second round of the meeting.

On behalf of the public, G K Bhat expressed dissatisfaction, stating that although parks and lakes across the city have been developed by MUDA, they are not being maintained, resulting in crores of rupees of taxpayers’ money going to waste.

Replying to concerns over the maintenance of works developed by MUDA and the Smart City project, the district commissioner said the issue had been noted. A total of 28 lakes and 16 parks have been developed across the city. At the time of handing them over to the corporation, budgetary provision is required for their maintenance. Hence, while taking up such projects, conditions are being imposed on contractors themselves to undertake maintenance for a period of three to five years, he said.

Responding to a suggestion regarding the disposal of legacy waste accumulated at Pachchanady, Darshan H V said the management of legacy waste has been outsourced. Due to staff shortage, the disposal work was delayed but has now regained momentum. Of the 9 lakh tonnes of accumulated waste, 6.5 lakh tonnes are yet to be cleared, for which a period of 18 months has been fixed.

S L Pinto, Rajendra Kumar and Radhakrishna also offered suggestions during the meeting. Corporation revenue officer Akshata was present on the dais.

Speaking at the meeting, N P Shenai of Suvarna Karnataka NGO said there is a severe shortage of staff in the revenue department. While obtaining building licences, separate permissions are required for water, electricity and sewerage connections, but nearly 50 per cent of applicants do not obtain these. During self-declared property tax payments, penalties amounting to several thousand rupees are imposed for arrears from previous years. Many people therefore delay paying taxes, leading to revenue leakage for the corporation. He also drew attention to revenue losses due to encroachment of stormwater drains and the use of tanker water during the monsoon.

With several participants highlighting issues along with revenue leakage, the budget preparatory meeting virtually turned into a grievance redressal meeting.

Other key suggestions raised at the meeting:

• Facilities should be provided in municipal market stalls in a manner that benefits poor traders. Parking fees should be levied in market complexes – Suresh Naik.
• Although QR codes have been installed in houses for waste management, they are not being used. Fines can be imposed on those who do not segregate waste – Ashwini Bhatt.
• Even after land is donated to the corporation through gift deeds, encroachers later set up shops or gardens on it; such persons should be fined. Cases where sewerage connections are provided to multiple houses or commercial complexes through a single door to evade tax should be identified – Alvin D'Souza.

Stating that it was shameful that proposals are being made to install CCTV cameras to identify garbage black spots even in Dakshina Kannada, one of the state’s more developed districts, district commissioner Darshan H V said people should voluntarily segregate waste and hand it over to corporation vehicles. As many do not do so, garbage collectors sometimes dump waste in front of certain houses and segregate it there to create awareness, which in turn leads some people to dump waste indiscriminately. He stressed that public awareness on the issue is essential.