The Hindu : Karnataka / Mangalore News : Mayor stops KUIDFC work

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 30, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Mangalore

Mayor stops KUIDFC work

By Our Staff Correspondent

MANGALORE, SEPT. 29. The Mayor of Mangalore, Purandaradasa Kulur, on Wednesday stopped all works taken up by the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) for 15 days till the quality assurance was sought from the corporation.

Giving a ruling after a heated debate in a meeting here, Mr. Kulur said that as there were some apprehensions in the minds of the corporators about the quality of material used for laying drainage pipes and water pipes, the KUIDFC should stop the works taken up till such a day when the corporation assured the corporators of the quality of the material used.

Raising the issue, the former Mayor, K. Diwakar, told the council that the stoneware pipes, which had been certified by quality evaluators and carrying ISI mark, were found to be sub-standard.

The pipes were to be coated with ceramic slurry but they did not have any such coating. This meant that the pipes would disintegrate quickly and the underground drainage system would crumble, he said.

He also pointed out that the water lines that were being laid around the city were being buried only up to at 1.5 feet in the ground as against the recommended depth of 1 meter.

Accused

Even as Mr. Diwakar was making his point, the Opposition benches (BJP) accused the former Mayor of wasting time on one question while there were other matters to be discussed. The Congress councillors also accused Mr. Diwakar of un-necessarily throwing a spanner in the works and stated that the Deputy Director of the KUIDFC (Projects), J.R. Lobo, had told a press conference that there was no need for the council to stop works or launch an inquiry into the issue.

James D'Souza (Congress) said Mr. Lobo had clarified that the sub-standard pipes had been rejected and had asked the council to allow him to continue the work.

The BJP councillor, Shankar Bhat, drawing the attention of the council said several illegal arrack shops had come up in the city and asked the Mayor to take action against such shops.

Members from the Congress wanted the Mayor to give a ruling and set a time limit to take up removal of all illegal structures in the city, but the Mayor only said that he would order his officials to study the matter and report to him. If the structures were illegal, they would be brought down, he said.

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