Illegal conversion of parking space issue dominates MCC meeting

Mangaluru: Corporators gave voice to their displeasure on Mangaluru City Corporation’s (MCC) inaction against owners of high-rise buildings who had converted parking space for commercial purposes, at the corporation meeting on Saturday, September 29^th.

 BJP corporator Sudhir Shetty identified over 20 high-rise buildings which had illegally converted their parking spaces into vehicle showrooms, bar or restaurants. “The basement of Saibeen complex, located opposite MCC, had been turned into Burma Bazaar,” he said.

As some owners had filed petitions in the court, no action could be initiated against such buildings, clarified the officials. However, MCC Mayor Bhaskar K directed officials to cancel door numbers of all 23 such high-rise buildings identified by MCC.

Smart City, a failure

MLC Ivan D’Souza participated in the discussion and said that the Smart City mission was a failure not only in Mangaluru but in other cities in the State as well. He called the special purpose vehicles floated for the implementation of the projects under the mission as “private companies” offering poor representation for the elected representatives. The SPVs were being dominated by bureaucrats. Many of the projects mooted under the mission were through the public-private partnership (PPP) mode to promote private interest, said the MLC.

In response, the Mayor announced that he would call a special meeting of the council next week to discuss the projects under the smart city mission. 

Dharna

BJP corporators accused MCC Mayor and Commissioner of being partisan in allocating funds for developmental works. Following the accusation, the corporators trooped into the well of the house and staged dharna twice, thereby disrupting the meeting. Only after the mayor promised to release funds towards which had not received any grants did the corporators withdrew their protest.

A special drive against consumers who had not paid their water bills will be launched from the first week of October, informed the officials.