The Hindu           30.11.2011

Conduct regular ward inspections: Mayor

Staff Correspondent

Mayor of Hubli-Dharwad Poorna Patil on Tuesday directed
the Municipal Commissioner and the Joint Commissioner to conduct regular
inspections to ensure proper disposal of waste.

The
Mayor’s direction came after Deputy Mayor Narayan Jartarghar spoke on
his findings after he visited 30 wards in the city to check garbage
disposal and cleaning work taken up by pourakarmikas and contractors.

Mr.
Jartarghar said that the corporation was spending Rs. 1 crore a year on
electricity and maintenance of streetlights and Rs. 65 lakh on garbage
disposal. He said though the money was being spent for the purpose,
there was hardly any monitoring of the same.

‘2,217 workers absent’

Mr.
Jartarghar said that while 345 workers had been absent for the nine
days of his visit, 2,217 workers had remained absent for 20 days.

“If this is how the health officials monitor the work, then how can there be proper cleaning,” he asked.

Ruling party to blame?

Former
Leader of the Opposition Ganesh Tagargunti said that there was no point
in the Deputy Mayor complaining about the issue. “You are in the ruling
party. If the work is not being done properly, that means you have
failed as a ruling party,” he claimed.

Mr. Tagargunti
said there had been complaints pertaining to cleaning of wards.
However, pourakarmikas were not being given wages as per guidelines.

Councillor
Vijayalaxmi Lutimath said that a fine should be levied on pourakarmikas
as well as the people of the city who dumped garbage from their house
in open spaces.

‘Reports not submitted’

The
former Floor Leader Ashok Jadhav pointed out that the councillors who
had gone on a study tour to other cities were yet to submit their
reports to the corporation, several months after the visit.

The
discussion ended with the Mayor asking the Commissioner and Joint
Commissioner to conduct regular inspections of wards to ensure proper
disposal of garbage as well as maintenance of streetlights.