Upa Lokayukta visits park in Shivamogga, takes officers to task for poor maintenance

Justice K N Phaneendra was on a three-day visit to Shivamogga. He visited Mahatma Gandhi Park in the morning along with officers of the Shivamogga district administration on March 19.

Justice K.N. Phaneendra, Upa Lokayukta of Karnataka Lokayukta, took serious exception to poor maintenance of Mahatma Gandhi Park in Shivamogga city. He instructed officers of Shivamogga City Corporation to take corrective measures at the earliest.

Justice Phaneendra, who was on a three-day visit to Shivamogga, visited the park in the morning along with officers of the Shivamogga district administration on March 19. On noticing poor maintenance of the park and no supply of water in the washrooms, he took officials of the city corporation to task.

“The trees are not pruned regularly, officials had not visited the place for a long time, and the toilets had no water. With no water facility, the park can not be maintained,” he said.

He told the officials to ensure that basic amenities were improved within 20 days. He ordered that a case be registered against the executive engineer of the corporation for poor maintenance of the park. The case would be withdrawn once the condition of the park was improved, he stated.

During his visit to Tunga canal at Rajendra Nagar, he noticed that the canal had been converted into a place to dump waste and release filthy water. “The contaminated water could spread diseases in the city. Officials should ensure that the canal is cleaned, and the public should cooperate with the agencies by not throwing waste into the canal,” he said.

He also visited the Indira Canteen in the city and interacted with people who were having breakfast. A few people said that the quality of the food prepared on the day was better than on other days.

The Upa Lokayukta was accompanied by senior officials of the Karnataka Lokayukta, Deputy Commissioner Gurudatta Hegde, Superintendent of Police G.K. Mithun Kumar, Zilla Panchayat CEO N. Hemanth, and Lokayukta SP Manjunath Choudhary.