MCC Council resolves to close Surathkal tollgate

Mangaluru City Corporation Council adopted a resolution urging the government to close the tollgate at Surathkal and merge it with the Hejamady tollgate.

Corporator Purushothama Chitrapura, said during the monthly meeting on Tuesday the state government had recommended the Centre to merge the tollgates. “Yet the authorities floated tender to maintain the toll plaza. The NH rules stipulate that the distance between two toll plaza should be 40-km, but the distance between two toll plazas here is only 9-km,” he said.

Abattoir issue

Pandemonium prevailed in the first half of the meeting over the issue of modernising the abattoir at Kudroli under Smart City Mission with the Opposition demanding shifting of the slaughter house to the city’s outskirts.

Raising the issue, BJP corporator Sudhir Shetty Kannur and Premananda Shetty said, “The present abattoir at Kudroli is situated on 40-cent land. The High Court had directed the ULBs to shift the abattoir to outskirts of the city. Even Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) guidelines insist that the abattoir should not be located in a riverfront area.”

The Council in 2014 had submitted a DPR for the shifting of the abattoir. The proposal can be pursued under Smart City Mission now, he said and alleged that the KSPCB licence for the abattoir had expired January this year.

Congress Corporator Deepak Poojary spoke in favour of a modernised abattoir saying blood mixed water collected in five tankers from Kudroli abattoir is released into the STP in Mullakadu. As a result, even after tertiary treatment of the water, it cannot be used by the SEZ.

City Corporation Commissioner Mohammed Nazeer said that the proposal on modernising abattoir was approved without any discussion or dissent note in the board meeting of the Mangaluru Smart City Ltd (MSCL). However, members objected to the proposal while it was being ratified, he added.

The commissioner’s answer triggered a heated argument among corporators. The opposition members even trooped to the well of the house.

No tender

Congress Corporator Prathibha Kulai alleged that the tender was not floated for the shandy at Surathkal since February. The officials only collect fee from vendors at the weekly shandy market according to their whims and fancy.

The Commissioner responded by directing officials to float short tender immediately. He also directed the officials to clear the illegal hoardings within a week.