Southern States
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Karnataka
MCC for swimming pool atop Kadri Hills
By M.Raghuram
MANGALORE, JAN. 24. The Mangalore City Corporation meeting, to be held on Tuesday, is likely to clear a proposal for the acquisition of land for a swimming pool of international standards atop Kadri Hills.
But things are not going to be smooth as the Forest Department which is planning to construct its guest house there is in no mood to accede to the request.
The district administration has suggested Yemmekere for the swimming pool, despite the fact that the area (Jeppu) is located in a corner of the city. The site suggested by the district administration has an abattoir nearby. The MCC is convinced that the place on Kadri Hills is the ideal site for the swimming pool as it is well connected by road.
The Mangalore Mayor, Abdul Aziz, said Kadri Hills had adequate parking place, and a serene atmosphere with no high-rise buildings adjacent to the land earmarked for the swimming pool.
The Deputy Mayor, Lancelot Pinto, said the present MCC swimming pool, which had only six lanes, was proving inadequate to accommodate the public, and the competition batches. The proposed swimming pool would have eight lanes, he said.
Stating that the MCC had made a study of the swimming pool of international standards in Davangere, the MCC Commissioner, J.R. Lobo, said it was an ideal model for Mangalore also.
Quoting the reports of the Engineering Department, Mr. Lobo said the site on the Kadri Hills was ideally suited as the ground was stable and there was no fear of groundwater seeping into the proposed pool.
The MCC corporator, Shankar Bhat, who has been entrusted with the task of coordinating the project, said he would move a resolution in the general meeting of the MCC to push through the project, and convince the district administration on the importance of the Kadri Hill site for the proposed swimming pool.
The Forest Department had no legal claim over the site as the department had shifted its operations to Pilikula Nisarga Dhama at Moodushedde village.
The site at Kadri Hills belonged to the Revenue Department and was entrusted to the Forest Department for the upkeep of the Kadri Park, he said.
Kadri Park was a public facility, and no government department could claim part of it as its own, he asserted.
Mr. Bhat told The Hindu that the existing swimming pool at Mangala Stadium Complex needed some landscaping and other work. The MCC would also urge the New Mangalore Port Trust to construct a swimming pool at Panambur, he said.
Stating that the Union Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs had earmarked Rs. 75 lakh for the project, the Mangalore MLA, N.Yogish Bhat, said Rs. 25 lakh would have to be contributed by the MCC, the Mangalore Urban Development Authority, the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat, and public donors.
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