Allegations of authorities being partisan while clearing encroachments over storm-water drains and parks rocked the municipal council meeting here on Wednesday with some disgruntled Congress councillors upset with the municipal commissioner, using the opportunity to make a veiled attack on him.

After the issue was raised by Congress councillor Ganesh Tagargunti, who has been vocal in his criticism of municipal commissioner Major Siddalingayya Hiremath, several other Congress councillors joined him in accusing the authorities of being selective in their drive against encroachments.

However, the prolonged discussion on the issue ultimately ended with a resolution directing the commissioner to clear to all encroachments without any leniency.

During the discussion on the calling attention motion moved by Mr. Tagargunti, the officials failed to provide proper information on the clearance drive and sought time, which angered the councillors. An official of the Town Planning Department clarified that they had no records related to storm-water drains as they were with the Revenue Department.

His reply angered the Congress councillors further, who were waiting to target the municipal commissioner for his recent bold step of demolishing a structure being built by a government department for which the local MLA had performed bhoomi puja. They pointed out that no action had been taken up to clear structures that had come up encroaching upon the storm-water drains. Mr. Tagargunti sought to know how the commissioner was kept in the dark until the construction of the illegal structure was completed up to the ceiling level. He also questioned Mayor D.K. Chavan giving a requisition for construction of a structure on land meant for a park. Although the Mayor admitted his mistake, he said that the corporation never gave permission for the construction.

Responding to the allegations, Major Hiremath clarified that since the department concerned had gone ahead with the construction despite several warnings by the corporation, they were left with no option other than demolishing it as the structure was being built in violation of rules.

The council subsequently discussed the issue of encroachments over storm-water drains and gardens. And ultimately Mr. Chavan issued a ruling directing the officials to conduct survey of storm-water drains with the help of officials of the Department of Survey and Land Records before taking up the clearance drive.