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Mangalore City Corporation's hall gets a swanky look ahead of inauguration

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The Times of India    24.08.2012

Mangalore City Corporation's hall gets a swanky look ahead of inauguration

MANGALORE: With less than 48 hours to go for the inauguration of the renovated council meeting hall of Mangalore City Corporation, work is on at a feverish pitch at the civic body's main office in Lalbagh here. Workers were busy giving final touches to the council hall and all other overhauling changes that had been brought in as part of the renovation process. Even as the final nail is yet to be hammered in, the council hall has undergone a stunning reformation.

Apart from the fully air-conditioned facility for the meeting hall, the council hall now sports a new seating arrangement, public address system and plush seating sofas for the corporators and officials concerned. K Harish Kumar, commissioner had set a June 30 deadline for Infrastructure Development Foundation, a group of architects entrusted with the work of renovating the council hall. They are delivering two months down the line. The key change incorporated into seating arrangement will see mayor, deputy mayor and the commissioner seated at a slightly higher level than they used to do so far. Standing committee chairpersons, who hitherto took their place among the councillors, will flank them on either side at slightly lower level facing their peers.
 
Heads of key sections, who will be seated slightly behind, on either side of the chairpersons, too will now face the councillors Harish Kumar told TOI that seating capacity of the hall after the renovation has gone up to 98. At present, the city corporation has 60 elected councillors, five nominated and five elected representatives (MP and members of state legislature). Harish said separate entry has been provided for officials and councillors. The visitors' gallery has remained in its present shape and form, but with the added advantage of getting air-conditioning too.
Last Updated on Friday, 24 August 2012 09:43
 

Municipal corporation to clamp down on illegal signboards

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The Times of India   24.08.2012

Municipal corporation to clamp down on illegal signboards

CHANDIGARH: As illegal signboards, billboards at commercial establishments and violation of the Advertisement Control Act have been increasing day by day, the civic body authorities plan to deal with the problem with an iron hand.

The members of the municipal corporation enforcement committee on Wednesday told officers to look into the possibilities to penalize the violators to check the practice.

A member of the committee, Major (retired) D S Sandhu, said, "The violation of the Advertisement Control Act can be noticed in every commercial area of the city. And as illegal hoardings can be found everywhere, so there is a need to keep a check on it."

He added, "It is quite surprising that MC enforcement wing can only remove the illegal hoardings, but cannot penalize the violators. We have asked the officials to take up the matter with the UT administration and add a clause of maximum penalty to the rules, so that the wing can punish the violators."

M P Kohli, vice-chairman of the committee, said, "There are many illegal hoardings and signboards. Strict norms are required to check these." In the past, these billboards have hampered the functioning of firemen as they tried to control flames at commercial establishments.
Last Updated on Friday, 24 August 2012 09:25
 

Palace defilement stopped only after Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation called cops

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The Times of India   24.08.2012

Palace defilement stopped only after Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation called cops

AHMEDABAD: The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) conducted three rounds of inspections before the caretakers of the Moti Shahi palace adhered to their warnings. AMC had to seek the help of the Shahibaug police to ensure that construction work was halted completely.

In a requisition to the Shahibaug police inspector under section 267 (2) of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation (BPMC) Act, the AMC sought that routine rounds be conducted on the premises to remove all persons involved in carrying out the illegal construction. Notices were issued to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Memorial Society (SVPMS) on August 3, August 7 and August 20.

"The SVPMS had not complied with our previous notices and continued the construction work. Construction activity was discontinued only after we approached the police to enforce the stay," says a senior AMC official.

In the affidavit before Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice PB Pardiwala, AMC deputy TDO Nilesh Baranda claimed, "It cannot be denied that the Moti Shahi palace would/may qualify to have architectural/cultural significance, however, it is required to be clarified that the same is not a listed heritage structure as defined in the General Development Control Regulations (GDCR) as amended by the September 2007 notification."

The high-powered Heritage Conservation Committee (HCC) had recently said that the Moti Shahi palace will soon be part of the new inventory of protected monuments which are outside the walled city.

Municipal commissioner Guruprasad Mohapatra had told TOI earlier, "The new inventory list will be prepared by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), which specializes in preservation and conservation of heritage buildings." Mohapatra said meetings had already been held with INTACH and it was devising a strategy for the inventory. "The list will also contain buildings of heritage value in places other than the walled city," he said.

 

Last Updated on Friday, 24 August 2012 09:13
 


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