Residents from several parts of Mangaluru raised complaints about missing streetlights, inadequate drainage, limited bus services, delayed welfare payments and difficulties related to land conversion at a civic grievance meeting held at the Mangaluru City Corporation premises on Saturday.
The Mangaluru ‘A’ hobli-level Prajaseva Andolana was chaired by MLA Vedavyas Kamath and attended by Deputy Commissioner Darshan H.V., Sub-Divisional Officer Meenakshi Arya and Municipal Commissioner Rahul Ratnam Pandey. Several residents said they received assurances of site visits and efforts to resolve their complaints, but did not receive specific timelines or written acknowledgements.
Jaison Dias, a software engineer living near Bondel Church on Pachhanady Road, said the area lacked adequate underground drainage and street lighting despite being close to the city’s main areas. He said an elderly resident had recently fallen and suffered injuries while walking in the dark. Dias said officials took his contact number but did not issue an acknowledgement or complaint reference number.
Residents from Padil Jalligudde also complained about the absence of streetlights and the non-arrival of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses. Ganesh Poojary said payments under the Sandhya Suraksha Yojana had not been received and that buses meant to travel up to the Bajal Kordabbu temple were turning back before reaching the destination. Residents said the road should be improved to enable regular bus access.
A resident from the Chilimbi area, near Nadu Restaurant, said a stormwater drain had been left incomplete. During rain, water overflowed and created difficulties for local residents. Officials reportedly said there were no funds to extend the drain. The resident was told that officials would visit the location in response to the complaint submitted at the meeting.
A woman from Bajal also said she had not received Sandhya Suraksha Yojana payments for six months. Kamath said the state government had withheld pensions for beneficiaries holding Above Poverty Line cards and that the issue would be brought to the government’s attention.
The meeting also covered a request for funding for a women’s organisation building in Kasaba Bengre. Kamath assured residents that funds would be released from his legislators’ development fund.
Land conversion and single-site issues were raised by Hanumanth Kamath of the Citizens’ Protection Committee. He said applicants had earlier been able to submit documents with a fee of ₹1,000, obtain measurements and prepare the required plan before receiving conversion orders. He said the cancellation of property cards by the state government had created difficulties and demanded that the earlier process be restored. Vedavyas Kamath described the issue as serious and said it had been raised several times in the legislative Assembly.
The meeting was scheduled for 11 a.m., but residents and officials waited for more than an hour before the MLA arrived. The hall became crowded, making it difficult for residents to submit applications and for officials to examine them. Officials’ promised site visits and the government’s response on delayed pension payments are the next recorded steps in the complaints raised at the meeting.
