Mangaluru: Mayor Jacintha Alfred held a press meet at her Chamber, MCC premises here, on July 24.
Addressing the mediapersons, the Mayor said that various development projects will be inaugurated on July 27 by the district minister in-charge Ramanath Rai and the Urban Development minister Vinay Kumar Sorake.
She further said that Mangaluru is one of the important and fast growing cities in Karnataka state. Day-by-day, vehicular movement in the city is increasing and there are many road blocks. For smooth vehicular movement, the state government has sanctioned funds for the development of the city. 7 projects will be inaugurated on July 27 and the work will be completed soon.
She also briefed on all the 7 development projects such as the remaining development work of Konchadi-Kavoor road at a cost of Rs 2 crore. The road, which is a 690 meter long and 8 meter wide stretch, will be developed by contractor Devanand Shetty and is estimated to be completed within 6 months. The second project is the Pacchanady main road development work (510 m long, 8 m wide) at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore. The other projects are: Concreting of Maladi court road (800 m long, 7m wide) at a cost of Rs 2 crore, Koragajjana Gudi road development work from Ladyhill (365 m long, 14 m wide including the 1 m median), Road from Durga Mahal to Bokkapatna Church (600 m long, 7 m wide) at a cost of Rs 1.65 crore, Subhashnagar Junction to Mangaladevi Temple road, drainage and footpath work (1600 m long, 14 m wide including median and footpath) at the cost of Rs 4.65 crore and the concreting of Kadri main road to Kadri Temple road (105 m long, 12 m wide including 1 m footpath) at the cost of Rs 1 crore. All the concreting work and footpath work will be completed in six months, she said.
She further said that the Town hall completed 50 years on December 12, 2014 and the Mangaluru City Corporation had planned to renovate the hall before the golden jubilee of the hall. “But due to some technical problems, we were unable to complete the renovation work. In a meeting held on June 26, we had discussed the Town hall issue. Under the guidance of the district in-charge minister, a decision was taken to call for tenders, and accordingly we have divided the work. For the work of stage, curtains, sound system, lights fall ceiling, ramp, etc., we have received tenders from the contractors on July 21 and they are under process.” The total cost of the above work will be Rs 98 lakh. The seating arrangements of the town hall will cost Rs 60 lakh, the Air conditioning will cost around Rs 48 lakh and the cable and Generator cost will be Rs 49 lakh. The tenders will be opened on July 24 and the work will be started from July 27. On July 27, we will handover the renovation work to the concerned authorities. They will start the work from next week and complete it by the end of November. The work will be completed by the end of November.
The markets which are coming under the Mangaluru City Corporation limits will be renovated. The central market, Kankanady, Kadri, Suratkal, Alake, Kavoor and Kulshekar Kaikamba markets will be upgraded. A DPR (Detailed project report) on this is under progress.
Deputy Mayor Purushotham, council members, former mayor Sasidhar Hegde and others were also present.
Town Hall of Mangalore is nothing different from the White House in Washington DC. We look upon the Town Hall as the Capital Building where the Mayor and the Members of the Mangalore meet often and discuss policies and philosophies that pertain to the people of Mangalore. We should be proud to admit the following characteristics of Mangalooru:-
1) We are an Intellectual City of Karnataka.
2) We are a Port City that brings economic growth to our State by allowing cargo ships and cruises to enter our State
3) We have a full fledged Refinery that caters most of our domestic Energy needs
4) We have some of the finest Education Institutes that cater for our Medical, Engineering & Business disciplines
5) We have some of the best industries that support our Coffee, Tea, Fisheries, Fertiliser, Granite and other industries
6) We have some of the best Shopping Centers in Mangalore
7) We have an ideal Secular community that creates peace and harmony in the society
8) We have some of the best Tourist centers such as Temples, Mosques & Churches that can attract global community
9) We have a dynamic multi=cultural and multi-linguistic community bringing charm to our ever changing Society
10) Most importantly, we have the people with a vision, people with a forward looking attitude.
All the above features should not be forgotten while we seek more developments to the City that brings progress and prosperity to Mangalore that brings more economic, social, educational and cultural benefits to India as a whole.
Thank you, Mayor Jacinta, for your leadership and entrepreneurship. As and when we visit Mangalore next we look forward to the pleasure of meeting with you.