Mysuru:  The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Council has approved the construction of a modern abattoir at Kesare on the outskirts of the city.

The mechanised abattoir or a slaughterhouse will be built at a cost of Rs.40 crore in an area of 9.50 acres between Kesare and MCC’s Zero Waste Management Plant. The approval was given at the Council meeting held at Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar Hall of the MCC last evening. The meeting was chaired by Mayor B. Bhagyavathi.

The project was floated five years ago and had not seen the light of the day as the residents of Kesare and R.S. Naidu Nagar had opposed it on the grounds that it was close to residential areas. The abattoir was earlier planned to be built on 15 acres (survey numbers 490, 499, 500, 504, 505 and 506) at Kesare. Now, 9.50 acres have been identified at the same locality spread in different survey numbers ­­­— 488, 499, 490, 491, 492 and 494.

Reacting to the proposal, Corporator Shoukath Pasha told the Council that as the proposed slaughterhouse is coming up near the area that was originally planned near Kesare, there might be stiff opposition from the residents of Kesare, R.S. Naidu Nagar and surrounding areas.

Responding to him, MCC Commissioner G. Jagadeesha said that there was no likelihood of residents holding a protest as the new site is beyond residential areas. Preliminary works will be completed in two months and tenders will be called to implement the project, he said.

MCC to collect Property Tax from tenants of shops: In a bid to mobilise resources, the MCC has resolved to collect Property Tax from tenants of shops. It also decided to give trade licences or renew them only after the tenants pay the Property Tax for the shops where they are carrying out the business. This is to ensure that the MCC achieves the target in both property tax and trade licence fee collection.

Tenants have to pay property tax for the portion of the building they have hired, if the owners failed to pay the Building Tax. The MCC will issue trade licences only after ascertaining that the Property Tax has been paid either by the owner of the building or tenant of the shop. If the tenant fails to pay the tax, his trade licence will not be renewed, and a criminal case be booked against him for not obtaining trade licence.

Unruly moments at Council:  The Council also resolved to continue with the existing contractor who has been handling Excel Treatment Plant at the Sewage Farm in Vidyaranyapuram with a rider that he should repair the existing machines and if possible also upgrade the same to improve its efficiency.

Unruly moments were witnessed for some time when Congress Corporator Prashanth Gowda and independent Corporator R. Ravindra Kumar vent their ire against Mayor Bhagyavathi for separate reasons.

Gowda was irked at what he termed as inefficiency of Mayor in monitoring the Council. Though the notice regarding monthly meeting is dispatched to officials from 21 other Departments that include Police and forest, none of the officials turned up at the meeting, he argued.

Prashanth Gowda took strong objection to holding the MCC meeting at 3 pm, and they said many vital issues could not be discussed threadbare in two or three hours, and decisions could not be taken. About 45 minutes was wasted on discussion over the timings of the meeting and the Councillors urged the Mayor to hold the Council meeting in the morning hereafter.

Ravindra, who has moved a Court against a mall at Nazarbad, demanded a detailed discussion on the action taken against the mall authorities for allegedly doing business with no trade licences issued to shops in the same complex.

When the Mayor deferred the decision on the subjects, Prashanth Gowda went near the Mayor’s podium and raised slogans against her even as the fellow Corporators were banging on their tables in unison in support of the Mayor.

Zonal Commissioners: The issue of posting of non-KAS or KMS officials for the Assistant Commissioners posts of the nine Zonal offices of MCC also figured at the meet. Taking objection to posting Assistant Executive Officers (AEO) for the posts, Ravindra Kumar and a few other Corporators asked how the AEOs could carry out the works and responsibilities of KAS and KMS cadre officers.

MCC Commissioner G. Jagadeesha said that it was the decision of the Government to post AEOs in the absence of KAS and KMS officials. The Corporators asked how could AEOs, who have technical knowledge, discharge administrative functions, and insisted the Commissioner write to the Government to post only KAS or KMS officials.