Mysuru:  Cutting across party lines, Corporators, during the first general meeting of the newly formed Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Council on Monday, urged the MCC officials and Mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath to prepare early for reclaiming the number one shot among clean cities in the forthcoming ‘Swachh Survekshan’ survey scheduled to be held in January.

BJP Corporator B.V. Manjunath, who is also the opposition leader in the MCC Council, said that the MCC often resorts to a knee-jerk reaction by taking up cleaning activity in some areas whenever a Swachh Survekshan team is scheduled to visit the city. Equal attention should be paid to cleanliness and hygiene in all the 65 wards of the city throughout the year, he pointed out.

Noting that Mysuru which earned the Cleanest City tag for two consecutive years in 2015 and 2016, had slipped to eighth position last year, Manjunath urged Mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath to take steps to restore the mobile numbers given to the Corporators as per their wards.

Maintaining that it would be easier for the citizens to contact their area Corporators if such mobile numbers are given, he said that with the de-limitation and re-numbering of wards,  such mobile numbers had become even more necessary.

Manjunath also reminded the authorities of the paucity of time in preparing the budget outlay that is to be presented before the end of the ongoing financial year in March.

Another BJP Corporator Shivakumar sought to revive the advertisement policy of the MCC.

Urging the Mayor to pursue with the State Government the council’s approval given for the policy, Shivakumar claimed that the civic body was earning no more than Rs. 6 lakh every year, though there is a potential to earn between Rs. 5 crore to Rs. 10 crore revenue through advertisements.

He also criticised the MCC for its ‘lackadaisical’ attitude in the collection of property tax. Pointing out that though the target was to raise Rs. 215 crore during 2018-19, the revenue collected so far was merely Rs. 100 crore, Shivakumar wondered how the MCC will be able to meet its target as only about four months were left for the financial year to end.

Leader of the Congress party in the council, H.M. Shanthakumari questioned the MCC officials for collecting various revenues including property tax through cash, instead of following the Government instructions in 2014 to make transactions only through banks and cheques.

She also raised the long pending multilevel car parking lot project on the premises of Town Hall in the heart of the city.

She maintained that with the project being executed at a snail’s pace, the parking woes still remains to be addressed.

Corporator Prema Shankaregowda who is nominated as the leader of JD(S) party in the council, said that with delimitation of the wards, there is a need for recruiting more pourakarmikas to cater to the demand. It would be difficult to take up cleanliness works with the available number of Pourakarmikas, she observed.

Independent Corporator M.V. Ramprasad asked Mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath and the MCC Commissioner to hold a workshop for newly elected Corporators in order to help them understand their roles and responsibilities and the working of the civic body.

Corporator Ayub Khan demanded installation of LED streetlights. Replying to the Corporator, MCC Commissioner K.H. Jagadeesha said that during Dasara, the MCC sent a request to the Government regarding LED streetlights. The Government immediately replied asking the MCC to suspend the proposed LED light project in the city as the State Government is installing LED lights across the State, he said and added to this effect.

The council requested the Mayor to get a special approval from the Government for LED streetlights.

Elected to Committees

Earlier, Corporators were unanimously elected to various committees – Sri Rangacharlu Memorial Town Hall Committee, Ambale Annaiah Pandit Free Students Hostel Committee (poor students feeding committee), Sewage Farm Committee and Central Library Committee.

Ayaz Pasha alias Pandu of the Congress was elected chairman of Town Hall Committee, while Pradeep Chandra, Bhagya, Prameela Bharath, Hajira  Seema, Shivakumar and M.S. Shobha were elected as its members.

For poor students feeding committee, for which Mayor is the chairperson, Corporators Taslim, Ashwini Ananthu,  N. Sowmya, A. Arif Hussain and M.V. Ramprasad were elected as members. For Farm Committee, for which the Deputy Mayor is the chairperson, Corporators J. Gopi, G.S. Satyaraj, M. Lakshmi, Sharadamma, K. Nirmala and Savitha were elected as members.

Corporators H.M. Shanthakumari and V. Ramesh were elected as members of Central Library Committee.

Deputy Mayor Shafi Ahmed, Corporators and senior officials were present during the meeting.