Urban News

The Hindu 11.09.2009

MCC to lay first-ever six-lane concrete road

Staff Correspondent

— Photo: R. Eswarraj

EXPLAINING: Mayor M. Shankar Bhat addressing a press meet in Mangalore on Thursday. Deputy Mayor Rajani Duganna is to his left.

MANGALORE: Mangalore City Corporation will upgrade the tarred stretch between Surathkal Junction and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) Gate that leads to Bajpe Road into a six-lane concrete road, Mayor M Shankar Bhat said here on Thursday.

Mr. Bhat told presspersons here that the project of upgrading the 4.75-km stretch was estimated to cost Rs. 30 crore. The MRPL had agreed to bear the entire cost of the project at a meeting held to this effect a few days ago. The civic body would carry out the road work, he said.

The proposed 100-ft-wide road would have a 65-ft carriage way (the portion of the road on which vehicles ply) and the rest of the area would be for medians and footpaths. The corporation was preparing the plan of the project, which was likely to begin in a month’s time, the Mayor said.

Stating that the proposed road would pass through Kana and Bala villages, he said that in addition to bus stops, the stretch would have public toilets on its sides.

When completed, it would be the maiden six-lane concrete road of Mangalore, he added.

The MRPL had donated 12 fogging machines to the civic body, recently. It had agreed to bear the salary of six health workers recruited by the corporation on contract basis. The salary of these six workers put together worked out to Rs. 26,000 a month, he said.

The Mayor said that the oil company had promised to donate Rs. 20 lakh to the “Mangalajyoti”, an integrated special childrens’ school at Vamanjoor, for constructing a dining hall and class rooms in that school. In addition, it had agreed to donate a mobile van to provide library services in the city, he said.

The Mayor said that 15 stretches of roads coming under the civic body’s jurisdiction were being concreted. The 1.16-km Kadri Kambala Road, connecting the Circuit House with Kadri-Bunts Hostel Road, would be concreted at a cost of Rs. 2.15 crore. Some people had taken the law into their own hands as they had recently removed the road markers put up by the corporation at Valencia for concreting. Each marker put up there had cost Rs. 300 to Rs. 500 for the corporation. If such activities were not stopped immediately, the civic body would file cases against the culprits, he warned.

Mr. Bhat said that the civic body would soon launch a drive to disconnect water supply connections of those who were not paying their bills, wantonly. The connections of those people, who had not paid their water bills because they contained exorbitant charges, would not be cut now. Another water adalat would be conducted during next week to resolve such cases. Later, water supply to proven defaulters would be stopped. A final decision on how to go about the drive would be taken at the water adalat, he said.

Referring to illegal water connections in the areas between Thumbe and the city, Mr. Bhat said that the corporation had disconnected a few of such connections. However, it had come to the notice of the corporation that a few persons had got the lines re-connected. The civic body would take legal action against such persons, he said.

Business Standard 10.09.2009

Forty per cent of domestic servants in India's financial capital are under 15 years of age and the number seems to be increasing at an alarming rate, states a report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

"About 40 per cent of the domestic helps were girls under 15 years of age. A substantive section of domestic help comprises girls, working for precarious wages and their numbers appear to have increased," the Human Development Report compiled by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said.

As per the 2001 Census, there were only 1,297 girls as main workers and 209 girls as marginal workers, which may not reflect the reality on ground. It appears that the official data on child labour is highly underestimated.

"Often these young domestic helpers are abused, verbally and physically and also sexually exploited," the report said.

Also distributing is the manner in which a mother, who is a domestic help, takes a girl child as her assistant unpaid, finally leading the latter becoming a domestic servant, the report said.

If one considers children working in local trains, bus stops, grocery shops, shoe-shine boys, newspaper vendors, waste pickers, hawkers, vendors, domestic workers, baby sitters, coolies, helpers in shops, the real picture will emerge.

Recently, many small-time television actors were arrested for physically abusing and torturing their minor maid servants in the city.

In August this year, the city police arrested actress Urvashi Dhanorkar for allegedly physically and mentally torturing her ten-year-old domestic helper, Rameshwari Jadhav.

Dhanorkar was, however, released on bail within a few hours of her arrest.

The government had in May 2007 registered a case against singer-actress Suchitra Krishnamoorthy's mother for allegedly making a minor work at their house. The charges were however dropped later.

In February last year, another actress, Huma Khan was arrested on charges of illegal confinement, rape and child labour for allegedly torturing her minor maid servant.