Can only offer our suggestions on dedicated municipality for Dharwad, says mayor

Hubballi: In the first general body meeting of the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) Council to be held after 40 months, the corporators, elected only last year, found it difficult to resume business where it had been left, considering the many upheavals that both the world and twin cities have witnessed in the intervening years. Among the more thorny issues that were discussed at the first meeting of the newly-elected and expanded HDMC Council was the demand for a dedicated municipality for Dharwad city.
Hubballi-Dharwad mayor Iresh Anchatageri pointed out that a decision on a separate municipality for Dharwad could be taken only by the government. “We can only offer our suggestions on this issue,” he said.
Kavitha Kabber, a Congress corporator from Dharwad, tabled the issue for discussion, with fellow corporators from the city, Shivu Hiremath, Shankar Shelake and others, endorsing the demand for a separate civic body.
Submit proposal for legacy waste, officials told
Former mayor Veeranna Savadi initiated what turned into a heated discussion on the piling problem of waste in the twin cities. After listening to the concerns of the corporators, Anchatageri ordered the HDMC officials to submit a proposal on legacy waste. One of the models that is being considered by the HDMC is the adoption of the practices in the city of Varanasi, while the implementation of another proposal would cost Rs 30 crore.
Savadi pointed out that solid waste management in the twin cities was impacted adversely owing to the negligence of the officials concerned, and the disproportionately poor number of pourakarmikas. He appealed to the mayor to ensure that at least 30 pourakarmikas were deputed in each ward, and to increase the frequency of trips made by auto-tippers to ensure regular collection of waste at the doorstep.
AIMIM party corporators Najeer Honyal expressed concern over the practice of burning waste at some of the dumpyards. “In at least 10 wards, management of legacy waste leaves much to be desired. In the evening, waste is burnt at the dumpyards. This is a highly dangerous practice, since it will lead to pulmonary problems such as asthma,” he said.
Arif Bhadrapur, Niranjan Hiremath, Senthil Kumar, Suvarna Kalkuntla were among the other corporators who stressed the need for more pourakarmikas to be deployed in their respective wards. The mayor, after listening to the corporators, directed HDMC commissioner B Gopalkrishna to take stock of the situation in each ward, and deploy additional pourakarmikas where needed.
During ‘Zero Hour’, BJP corporator Ramanna Badiger called on the officials to take cognisance of the problem posed by stray dogs, in view of increasing incidence of people being attacked by the animals.
Gopalkrishna assured all the corporators of taking steps to create an exclusive zone for stray pigs, and dogs, in addition to setting up a cow shelter.