Karnataka - Raichur   

MLA demands inquiry into municipality affairs

By Our Staff Correspondent

RAICHUR, SEPT. 28. The Raichur MLA, A. Papa Reddy, has demanded that the Government despatch a special team of officials from the Department of Municipal Administration to conduct an investigation into what he termed misappropriation of funds in the Raichur City Municipality.

Addressing presspersons here today, he accused the Municipal Commissioner of mismanaging funds meant for development works by "issuing cheques for lakhs of rupees against bogus bills." He said that developmental activities within the city limits had came to a standstill since the appointment of the Deputy Commissioner as the Administrator of the Raichur City Municipality.

`No improvement'

He said that the roads in the city had not seen any improvement even though the city municipality was incurring an expenditure of Rs. 40 lakhs to Rs. 50 lakhs a month towards improving basic facilities.

Though the municipality collects charges for the filling of trenches and potholes, it had failed to maintain the roads.

He said that almost all roads in the city were in a bad shape. The authorities concerned had also failed to clear open and closed drains and maintain hygiene in and around the city.

Funds sanctioned

On inquiry, the authorities concerned, including the Deputy Commissioner, expressed their inability to take steps to improve roads and other facilities due to the lack of funds. Recently, the Deputy Commissioner had sanctioned Rs. 3.60 lakhs for filling potholes in the city and Rs. 10 lakhs to improve a 2-km stretch of the Raichur-Gadwal Road when he had pressured him to improve roads in the city, he said.

Mr. Reddy asked how the municipality had been facing financial difficulties when it was collecting Rs. 40 lakhs to Rs. 50 lakhs each month. On verifying the records, he found that the municipality had collected Rs. 40.60 lakhs in June, Rs. 42.29 lakhs in July and Rs. 30.25 lakhs in August.

Cheques issued

He said that the municipal commissioner had issued 449 cheques totalling Rs. 1.27 crores in the last three months against expenditures incurred on developmental works taken up in the city. Of these, 306 cheques, totalling Rs. 81.09 lakhs, had already been honoured by banks while 143 cheques for Rs. 46.35 lakhs were pending due to a lack of funds.

He said that he had lodged a complaint with the Director of Municipal Administration urging him to order a detailed inquiry into the matter. He had also lodged another complaint with the Deputy Commissioner asking him to forward a letter to the Government to conduct an inquiry. He said that he would also meet the Director of Municipal Administration on Friday to bring pressure on him to conduct an inquiry.

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MLA demands inquiry into municipality affairs

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