Karnataka   

Concern over neglect of Raichur city

Raichur: The Hyderabad-Karnataka Janandolana Kendra has urged the district administration to improve basic facilities in Raichur city by utilising the funds reserved for the purpose.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Raghavendra Kustagi, president of the kendra, said that the authorities concerned had been apathetic towards improving facilities such as roads, drainage and sanitation even though funds were being released by the Government.

Most of the roads in and around the city were in bad condition and the drainage system was in a dilapidated state due to lack of maintenance for the past few years. No steps had been taken to improve sanitation in most of the localities in the city even as the city municipality had been implementing the Nirmalnagar Yojana for the past three years. There was no response from the authorities concerned to handle these problems even after repeated appeals by citizens and social organisations, he said.

Mr. Kustagi said that apart from release of funds from the Government for development of the city, the city municipality had been collecting tax from the citizens and receiving funds from various sources. The city municipal authorities had maintained records that such funds had been spent on improving basic facilities.

But there was no change in the state of affairs as far as maintenance of roads, sanitation and other facilities were concerned. None of the elected representatives, including the civic body, had not done anything to improve basic facilities in the city, he said.

Mr. Kustagi said that the citizens had hoped that the facilities would improve when the Deputy Commissioner had taken over administration at the city municipality in February, after the end of the term of the recent council. But there was no change in the plight of the citizens so far. The district administration had not shown any interest to improve the facilities, he alleged.

Mr. Kustagi said that two months ago, the district administration had received Rs. 12 crore from the Government exclusively for improving facilities in the city. But Deputy Commissioner J. Ravishankar had failed to utilize these funds, he alleged.

The kendra had decided to convene a seminar, which would include an interaction among citizens, the former and present elected representatives and the Deputy Commissioner, to discuss the problems faced by the citizens.

Meanwhile, the District Congress Committee has threatened to stage a dharna in protest against the “failure” of the district administration in solving the problems faced by the citizens.

In a letter to the Deputy Commissioner on Thursday, party leader A. Vasanthkumar said it had been decided to stage a dharna at the city municipality and lock its office in the first week of September if the administration failed to take necessary steps to improve facilities in the city.

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