Mysuru
Taking a strong view of the menace of flex and footpath encroachment in the city, Mysuru MP Pratap Simha called for crackdown on their menace.
Speaking to media persons, Simha said that he has already spoken to the local authorities including the Commissioner of the Mysuru City Corporation in this regard. ‘’’Even a city like Bengaluru is relatively free of flex but it continues unabated and is visually polluting’’, said Simha.
This is the second time in recent times that the MP has spoken out against the prevailing ‘’flex culture’’ in the city wherein local politicians install life-size banners and posters proclaiming themselves as ‘’leaders’’ and extend festival greetings, birthday wishes etc.
Simha said the officials have been told to penalise those who are engaged in it and crack down on the practice. Impost heavy penalty so that it acts as a deterrent, he added.
On the issue of footpath encroachment Simha said he would personally visit the spots and conduct an inspection and ensure that footpath encroachments are cleared. ‘’There are food zones and vending zones where the vendors can transact business but the entire city cannot be commandeered to the detriment of the public.”
On the controversy over the demolition of the heritage Devaraja Market and Lansdowne Building Simha said the contribution of the Wadiyars to Mysuru was immense and they would be taken into confidence before taking a final decision.
Reacting to statements that the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway Corridor cannot be completed by Dasara as announced by him recently, Simha said it will be completed as scheduled and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be invited to inaugurate it.
Needless controversy on languages: MP Pratap Simha has said that the twitter war over national language between two actors that drew political parties in the State and triggered a debate on the issue was a needless controversy.
He said, nobody has declared Hindi as a national language nor are there any efforts to impose it or declare it as such. All the 15 languages printed on the currency notes of India are national as also all the languages with or without scripts and which are spoken in the country.
Simha said there are attempts to twist and quote BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah out of context. While no language has been granted the status of national language, Hindi and English are official languages for communication. What Amit Shah said was Hindi was a link language but it was being misinterpreted to stoke a controversy, said Simha.
The MP said Hindi was used widely in most parts of the country for communicating and no efforts have been made to impose it. But attempts are made to create enmity and divide people on the basis of languages, he added.
It is only in Tamil Nadu and Kerala there is widespread opposition but is widely spoken across India as a link language, Simha said.
