Mangaluru : An illegal goshala on government land at Kenjar, on the outskirts of the city, will be shifted in a week to pave the way for establishing the Indian Coast Guard’s Training Academy, Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra said here on Monday.

Speaking at the District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DISHA) meeting, presided over by Member of Parliament Nalin Kumar Kateel,

Dr. Rajendra said the land earmarked for the academy belongs to the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) and a part of it is being illegally occupied by a person managing the shelter for cattle.

“We are ready to allocate an alternative land for the goshala,” Dr. Rajendra said.

Umanath A. Kotian, Moodbidri MLA, said a group of residents of Kenjar have threatened of launching an agitation if the goshala is not shifted and have accused the goshala operator of allowing illegal cow slaughter.

Mr. Kateel said that his party will not support the shelter for cows built on the government land illegally.

Mangaluru City Corporation Commissioner Akshy Sridhar, who is a director in the board of Mangaluru Smart City Limited, said development works of MSCL have been stopped since last two months following a stay order by the Karnataka High Court. The report by the CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) on whether MSCL projects comply with the Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016 is likely to be placed before the court on Wednesday. “We are awaiting further directions of the High Court,” Mr. Sridhar said.

D. Vedavyas Kamath, Mangaluru City South MLA, took MSCL officials to task for incomplete underground drainage works in Bunder area. “You dug up the roads and made life horrible for residents,” he said.

When Mr. Kamath pointed out at the poor way in which Kolkata-based Simplex Infrastructure Private Limited was executing the underground drainage works of the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation, Mr. Kateel directed Dr. Rajendra to hold a meeting of KUIDFC Mangaging Director and Chairman of Kolkata-based firm on February 24 and sort out the issues.

Seeing slackness in execution of works taken up from the 14th Finance Commission grants and other Central government schemes, Mr. Kateel asked Dr. Rajendra to constitute a committee of officials that will meet regularly and speed up the works. Mr. Kateel said he will personally review these works every month.

Dr. Rajendra asked officials from the State government’s National Highway section to make use of road safety funds available with district administration and Transport Department for erecting signages and taking other road safety measures on the national highways which they maintain.

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