Councillors and officials of the Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) will not be allowed to use cellphones during council meetings henceforth.
Mayor Praveen gave a ruling to this effect at the council meeting here on Friday.
The Mayor said that the councillors could bring cellphones to the council meetings but should go out of the hall to use them.
The ruling followed a request by councillor and former Mayor K. Ashraf of the Congress.
Mr. Ashraf said some councillors and officials were always seen busy making or attending phone calls during the council meetings.
Independent councillor Mariyamma Thomas, who opposed the demand to ban use of cellphones at council meetings, said that it was not feasible as councillors would have to answer calls from people.
Councillor Jayanthi B. Shetty of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said that toilets in the city corporation building were leaking. If the civic body could not maintain its own building, how could it expect cleanliness elsewhere in the city?, she said.
Mayor Praveen said that the toilets would be repaired soon.
On malaria control measures, Commissioner of the corporation Harish Kumar K. said experts had suggested that it could not be controlled by fogging and spraying. The corporation would reserve special funds in its 2012-13 budget to tackle malaria. The Principal Secretary to the State Department of Health was likely to visit the city shortly to hold a meeting on the steps to tackle malaria, he added.
