IMC Mayor dismisses allegations
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 03 2019: Imphal Municipal Corporation (IMC) Mayor L Lokeshore has dismissed all the allegations levelled against him by 18 Corporators who have raised a motion of no confidence.

Speaking to media persons at his office today, Lokeshore said that several hoardings put up in and around Imphal city were removed recently after due order was issued with full knowledge of the former chairperson of the Planning and Publicity Committee.

The hoardings were removed in accordance with an order issued by Court that all hoardings put up along National and State Highways should be 10 metres away from the margins of highways, said the Mayor.

Reacting to the rebel Corporators' charge that he allotted over 100 parking lots within Imphal city, Lokeshore said that he is ready to visit the parking lots together with the Corporators and count the total number of parking lots.

100 parking lots is sheer exaggeration.

As the tender process for allotment of parking lots has not been completed, 30/40 parking lots were allotted on trial basis as a temporary arrangement after a meeting of the Finance and Assessment Committee was held.

Allotment of parking lots is not necessarily about earning revenue alone.

When there is no parking system, vehicles are parked haphazardly and it creates serious traffic problems, he said.

Traffic jams are a regular sight at Thangal Bazar these days after a parking system implemented there was revoked.

IMC has been considering a temporary arrangement to resolve the traffic problem, said the Mayor.

Rejecting the charge that over Rs one crore has been collected in the name of generating licence cards, Lokeshore contended that he did not collect a single rupee in connection with generation of cards.

Regarding the allegation that salaries of Corporators and employees are not paid regularly, he said that employees have not been paid salaries for around six months but this is quite an improvement as compared to the situation seen 3/4 years back.

As the grant-in-aid of Rs 35 lakh given to IMC by the Government annually is insufficient to meet the corporation's financial requirements, IMC has submitted a representation to the State Government to hike the grant-in-aid amount to Rs one crore.

However, salaries of Corporators are being paid every month, Lokeshore asserted.

The machines/vehicles meant for emptying septic tanks are now earning around Rs four lakh in a month.

As for the allegation that no revenue was earned from parking lots, the Mayor clarified agencies manning parking lots could not pay parking fees after Opposition Corporators confiscated the relevant files from the Dealing Assistant.

Due process has been already initiated to levy property tax in areas covered by the IMC.

If the process proves successful, IMC would be able to earn Rs 20 crore in a year and it will leave a huge amount in balance after paying salaries of employees and Corporators, he said.

Expressing strong disapproval of the motion of no confidence raised against him, the Mayor appealed to all the Corporators to cooperate with each other and work collectively for development and growth of IMC.

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