Hubballi sources have stated that in a turn of events, the council meeting of Hubballi Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC), which had unanimously sought action against encroachments in the last council meeting, saw few Congress members terming the move as ‘anti-poor’ and demanding its discontinuation on Monday.
However, after a heated debate, the Mayor D.K. Chavan directed the Major Siddalingayya Hiremath , Municipal Commissioner, to continue with the drive. While Congress leader Ganesh Tagargunti had raised the issue of encroachments in last week’s meeting seeking action, it was former mayor Deepak Chinchore who raised it again in Monday’s meeting, condemning the drive and demanding an immediate stop to it.
He accused the corporation staff of targeting poor vendors and alleged
that they were not served notices and had suffered huge losses by the
‘anti-poor move’. Yasin Haveripet, another Congress councillor, endorsed his
view and demanded the immediate suspension of the drive.
However, BJP councillor and former mayor Shivu Hiremath welcomed the move and spoke of the previous council meeting’s unanimous resolution on initiating the drive, which resulted in a heated debate between the Opposition and ruling party members. After former mayor Pandurang Patil and others demanded the continuation of the drive and urged the municipal commissioner not to yield to pressure, Mr. Chavan gave the commissioner the go ahead.
