Drive to clear illegal street vendors soon: MCC chief

Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) and police will launch a drive to evict street vendors who are obstructing pedestrians by encroaching footpaths in different parts of the city, MCC Commissioner Ajith Kumar Hegde Shanady said.

He was replying to the queries during the phone-in programme, organised by Prajavani, at DH-PV Editorial Office in Balmatta on Friday.

“The MCC had identified authorised street vendors and had issued identity cards. A street vendors yard was identified to help them sell their wares. Yet foothpath vendors refused to shift to the yard and continue to occupy footpaths posing hurdles to the movement of vehicles and pedestrians,’’ the commissioner said.

Flexes

Shanady claimed that all the unauthorised flexes and banners installed during election to the council of MCC were cleared. Now, once again the flexes, banners and buntings related to political parties have come up in various parts of the city. As per Karnataka Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1981, flexes, banners, cutouts, posters and buntings should not be mounted illegally.

The illegal flexes and banners destroy the aesthetic beauty of the city. Measures were taken to clear the unauthorised flexes and banners. Criminal cases will be booked against those who mount flexes, banners, cutouts and buntings in the city limits, he warned.

On single-use plastic still being used by merchants in Mangaluru, Shanady said that intensive drive to check the use of single-use plastics would be taken up. Further, awareness will also be created among public on the ill-effects of single use plastic and its impact on nature.

Police complaint

When a caller complained against the dumping of garbage near a water tank in Honnakatte, Shanady said despite cleaning the area and developing a small park in the area, people continued to dump garbage.

In fact, the neighbouring gram panchayat was caught dumping the garbage at the site, which is causing a lot of trouble to the public. A police complaint will be lodged against those dumping garbage, he added.

The dumping of garbage at Kankanady market will also be cleared, the commissioner promised caller Mohammed Rafiq.

When the callers complained on the dumping of construction debris on footpaths at Karangalpadi and Attavar, Shanady said that engineering section of the MCC was directed to warn the builders against the dumping of construction debris on the road and footpath. “If they do not respond then MCC will clear it.”

Potholes

When callers complained about the pothole-ridden roads in the MCC jurisdiction, the commissioner said the work to fill potholes was in progress and was likely to be completed in next 15 days.

“The work on overflowing sewage at Ambedkar Circle (Jyothi) will also be taken up,” he said.