Two important State agencies — the Police Department and the Mysore City Corporation — appear to be at loggerheads over the construction of a new office building for the Mysuru City Police Commissioner.
Months after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah laid the foundation stone for the mammoth building to be constructed at a cost of Rs. 14 crore on the Police Band Bungalow premises, city councillors objected to it saying it was being constructed without obtaining prior permission from the MCC.
Turning their ire towards MCC Commissioner C.G. Betsurmath for remaining a mute spectator to the ongoing “illegal” construction, the councillors demanded that a notice be issued to the Police Commissioner to stop the work.
But, Police Commissioner M.A. Saleem was in no mood to oblige the naysayers. “There is no need for the Police Department to obtain a building licence from the MCC,” he said, citing exemption for construction of police buildings under the Karnataka Municipal Act.
“Why was the MCC silent when the Police Department constructed more than 20 buildings in the city in the last few years,” he asked.
A new building was also constructed on the City Police Commissioner’s office premises in Bengaluru. Sources in the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike said the civic body’s permission was not required for the building as it was constructed by the Karnataka State Police Housing Corporation Ltd.
Now, that’s a real animal lover
Kannada activist and former MLA Vatal Nagaraj will win hands down if there is ever an award for the most eyeball-grabbing protest. His modes of protest range from threatening to urinate in public while demanding construction of toilets to riding a ‘chariot’ around Bengaluru on Valentine’s Day in solidarity with young couples targeted by Right-wing activists.
The ever-in-the-news leader has a penchant for using animals in his protests.
Donkeys, buffaloes and cows have routinely walked with him on his marches.
Last week, in a novel protest, Mr. Nagaraj honoured two donkeys in recognition of their “hard work, loyalty, honesty, discipline and obedience”.
To the great amusement of onlookers, the donkeys were garlanded and draped with shawls. Mr. Nagaraj said he would honour animals every month in recognition of their contribution to mankind. “Worshipping cows and taking care of domestic animals is part of our rich tradition,” he said, with a straight face. With Mr. Nagaraj, it is hard to tell where parody ends and real life begins.
Fake notes in
police canteens
What is usually discussed at a police canteen meeting? Issues related to cash, logistics, food, purchase and payment. However, at the police headquarters in Bidar, the topic of the day was the circulation of fake currency notes at canteen counters. A senior police officer said this was a complaint across multiple districts. “We have to find a way out. A police canteen is the last place where you expect to find fake notes. All our customers are police personnel. We should not send out a message that our officers and men go around carrying fake notes,” he said. Payment by card and installing fake note currency detectors were the measures suggested by some officials to mitigate the menace.
War of words
A meeting held on the zilla panchayat premises in Kolar last week witnessed a war of words between Minister for Minor Irrigation Shivaraj Tangadagi and local MLA Varthur Prakash.
The meeting, attended by district in-charge Minister U.T. Khader, former Union Railway Minister and MP K.H. Muniyappa, legislators and senior officials, was convened to discuss supply of treated waste water from Bengaluru to selected tanks in Kolar and Chickballapur districts. There were several disruptions.
Officials identified 108 tanks in Kolar district and 28 in Chickballapur district for the purpose. When Mr. Tangadagi explained the procedure for the treatment of water, Mr. Prakash objected saying that priority should be given to implement water supply projects instead of meetings on treatment of waste water.
Stung by the criticism, Mr. Tangadagi retorted: “Arsenic content in groundwater has been found in both districts. Will you take responsibility if a tragedy occurs by implementing projects in a hurry? I am not conducting this meeting for publicity. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah instructed me to hold the meeting to elicit views from MPs and legislators of Kolar and Chickballapur.”
Mr. Muniyappa pacified them and brought the meeting back on track. Amid the ruckus, the meeting unanimously decided to utilise dry tanks to treat waste water.
Will the authorities ensure treated potable water is the question haunting the residents of the two districts.
H.S. Narasimha Kumar,
Bageshree S.,
Rishikesh Bahadur Desai, andVishwa Kundapura
