Shortage of funds for Pumpwell bus stand - MCC

Shortage of funds for Pumpwell bus stand - MCC

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Jan 16: Reliable sources in the Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) have admitted that there is shortage of funds to complete the proposed bus stand near Pumpwell, and the meeting of district administration officials chaired by DC Subodh Yadav on Jan 13, Thursday discussed this issue in great detail.

Maninarayan, the superintending engineer of Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environment Management Project (KUDCEMP), who is the in-charge executive engineer at MCC, said that work cannot be continued until funds required for land acquisition reach the department concerned.

Agreeing that there is a shortage of funds, MCC Commissioner K. N. Vijayaprakash said that seven acres of land have already been acquired for the bus stand, which requires 11.18 more acres of land.

The DC’s suggestion to construct a new private bus stand was initially opposed by Dharmaraj, the advisor to the engineering department, who said that it would be a mistake to modify the project from its current public-private partnership because all the shopping complexes set up at the bus stand will benefit the MCC. Since the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is planning to construct a bus stand at Pumpwell, the MCC decided to request KSRTC to provide the funds required to acquire land for its bus stand.

Gopal Gowda, the assistant executive engineer, said that, according to the tender, the construction of the vented dam at Thumbe ought to have been completed by January, but has not yet been even half constructed. The DC has decided to visit the site to find out the reasons for the delay although Rs. 7 crore of the required cost of Rs. 41 crore was deposited by MCC for the dam project.