Rain damage: Night gangmen, earthmovers to be deployed

Mangaluru: Mayor Sudheer Shetty Kannur said that the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) will appoint night gangmen, who will respond to any rain damage during the night in the city.
At a special meeting convened to discuss preparedness for the monsoon on Friday, the mayor said that corporators and the public may bring various rain related issues to the notice of incident commanders.
“The city corporation will deploy one earthmover each for two wards. Meanwhile, the contact number of incident commanders will be shared among the public. Any natural disaster can be prevented if officials and staff work in a coordinated manner,” the mayor said.
MCC commissioner Anand CL said that the engineers have been deputed as incident commanders for all the 60 wards in the city to respond to rain damages, and to find solutions to various issues during the rainy season.
Corporators from the ruling party and opposition raised complaints about officials not responding properly. Corporators brought to the notice of the mayor that they failed to get a response from officials when low-lying areas were flooded, and underground drainage was overflowing.
Corporator Naveen D’Souza said that several houses and shops near Pumpwell, Kottara Chowki and other areas in the city were affected due to the artificial flooding. Further, he also brought to the notice of officials that tree branches that pose a threat to life and properties in many areas in the city need to be removed. Corporator Sangeetha R Nayak said the MCC staff failed to respond when she sought help to remove a tree near an anganwadi at Vaidyanatha Nagar. Another corporator, Kiran Kumar Kodikal, said that the city corporation needs to construct retaining walls for rajakaluves (stormwater drains) immediately. He added that dumping sandbags by the side of rajakaluves will not be a permanent solution. He also demanded desilting of rajakaluves to avoid artificial flooding in the city. The mayor sought lists of places where the desilting of rajakaluves need to be taken up.
Chief whip of the ruling party in MCC council, Premanand Shetty, said that there is a lack of coordination between officials. He urged officials to hold regular coordination meetings.
Shetty also brought to the notice of the mayor and officials about digging of roads for various development works in the city.