Mangaluru : Mayor Kavita Sanil said that the high court, in an order passed on Wednesday, has upheld the raids conducted by the MCC authorities on illegal massage parlours.

The court has also exempted the mayor and the commissioner from paying a fine of Rs 25,000 each in a particular case where the owners of a massage parlour questioned the raids. “Raids on illegal establishments will be on,” she said.

The mayor’s response came in the aftermath of accusation by Opposition leader in the MCC council Ganesh Hosabettu that no steps have been taken against the illegal establishments. “In a particular case of an illegal commercial building at Chilimbi, the MCC officials have expressed their helplessness in taking any action against the owners of the building as the establishment belongs to a political leader,” he said.

Meanwhile, Opposition leader Sudhir Shetty Kannur said the land, donated by owners to the MCC through relinquishment deeds, has not been acquired by the civic body yet. The encroachment on relinquished land need to be cleared and ironically, such land is in Mayor’s ward itself, he added.

Health officer Manjaiah Shetty said that 955 out of 20,400 trade licences have been cancelled, following non-adherence to regulations and 8,600 are pending for renewal by the traders.

The mayor directed the officials to issue notice to all defaulters within a week to recover the dues within 30 days.

Opposition leaders Premanand Shetty, Ashok, Roopa Bangera and others raised the issue on the non-completion of desilting work of stormwater drains. This is resulting in artificial floods, they said.

The mayor said that the desiltation of drains has been taken on priority. In some instances, work was done during the onset of monsoon keeping in mind the public interest, she added.

Commissioner Mohammed Nazeer said that works under the Smart City Project will be carried out with respect to Area Based Concept Plan and Pan City Solutions.

In the first concept, the development of Bunder area will be taken up as per the proposal submitted by the MCC to the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. Various other development works, such as smart street lights and smart bus stands, will be implemented across the city, he added.

Former mayor Harinath put forth the acoustic problems found in Mini Town Hall. Executive Engineer Lingegowda said that experts from Tamil Nadu have been consulted in this regard and the works will be carried out at a budget of Rs 48 lakh.

Deputy Mayor Rajanish, Standing Committee chairpersons Sabitha Misquith, Nagaveni, Prathibha Kulai and Rauf were present.