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.