Minister for Municipal Administration H.C.Balakrishna made a surprise visit to Indira Canteen in Hootagalli and had breakfast along with Chamundeshwari MLA G.T.Devegowda in Mysuru on Tuesday.
Mysuru
With around 40 per cent of the population living in urban areas and only about 30 per cent of the required funds being received through grants from the Central and State governments, urban local bodies must focus more on resource mobilisation to meet the remaining financial requirements, said Minister for Municipal Administration H.C. Balakrishna.
Addressing at a meeting with officials of urban local bodies from Hassan and Mandya districts held at the Regional Commissioner’s office here on Tuesday, the minister said preparations were underway to bring private roads under the jurisdiction of urban local bodies and maintain them. An order in this regard would be issued by the department, he said. The officials must create awareness among the public about A-Khata and B-Khata classifications and encourage property owners to regularise their properties accordingly.
He directed officials to ensure that owners of commercial shops leased out by urban local bodies paid rent within the stipulated deadline. In case of default, notices should be issued and steps taken to close the shops. Warning that officials would face action if commercial rents remained unrecovered due to negligence, Balakrishna directed them to take the issue seriously.
Regarding delays in drinking water supply and underground drainage works, the Minister instructed officials to prepare district-wise lists of pending projects and arrange separate meetings with contractors, officials and the respective legislators to resolve the issues.
Heads of urban local bodies should inspect their respective jurisdictions every day at 6 a.m. to review sanitation, drinking water supply, underground drainage and other basic civic amenities, he said. Such regular inspections would help resolve several problems at the local level, he added.
Balakrishna said urban local bodies had already been instructed to reserve two acres of land for developing residential layouts for pourakarmikas (civic sanitation workers), and the work was in progress. The Municipal Administration Department would write to the district administrations seeking reservation of five acres of land either on the outskirts of urban local bodies or in rural areas to provide sites to pourakarmikas after their retirement.
Excise Minister K Shivalinge Gowda pointed out that several town panchayats in Hassan district were facing a shortage of staff and requested that at least the minimum required personnel be appointed. A district-level meeting would be held to review the implementation of directions issued by the Urban Development Minister to officials at the divisional level.
Responding to the request, Balakrishna said officers and staff currently working on deputation in other departments would be brought back and posted to urban local bodies facing staff shortages. In urban local bodies with greater revenue mobilisation, officials could engage staff through outsourcing as per the rules, he added.
Gowda also said some buildings under the jurisdiction of Arsikere City Municipal Council were not attracting tenants and suggested that the buildings could be modified and rented out as hostels, for which permission from the department was required.
MLAs A. Manju, A.B. Ramesh Babu Bandisiddegowda, Urban Development Department Director P. Ravindra and other officials were present at the meeting.
