Mangaluru: Mangaluru City South MLA D Vedavyas Kamath criticised the govt for unilaterally awarding tenders for advertisements within the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) limits and the installation of traffic police umbrellas to an individual from Tamil Nadu, without informing local authorities, police departments, or elected representatives.Kamath stated that the issue was raised during the legislature session on Monday. He said the govt disregarded rules and regulations, favoured outsiders, and neglected local advertisers who operated in Mangaluru for years and paid taxes. Those who approached the court against this injustice are being intimidated. The city corporation earned about Rs 3.5 crore from advertisements, and if the govt was willing, it could earn up to Rs 10 crore. Instead of doing so, the govt enabled corruption, he questioned.“For any work within the city limits, like installing a road hump, coordination among local administration, police departments, and various authorities is necessary. However, here, without informing anyone, traffic police umbrellas were installed everywhere, including footpaths, spaces left for road widening, stormwater drains, and even in the middle of roads,” said Kamath.Additionally, boards were placed on these police outposts, asking those interested in advertising to contact them, he said. “People are questioning us. Why should we be responsible for the govt’s mistakes? Speaker UT Khader supported this and mentioned that he ordered the removal of a traffic police umbrella on a road in his constituency,” Kamath said.
