Dharwad: Revenue minister R V Deshpande , who is also the Dharwad district in-charge minister gave a stern warning to HDMC officials to act upon illegal hoardings dotting the twin cities Chairing his maiden progress review meeting at Alur Venkatrao Bhavan here on Tuesday, he said officials should not succumb to any kind of pressure and indiscriminately remove all illegal hoardings and flexes.Stating that there have been complaints from public that HDMC was not getting any revenue for allowing hoardings and flexes, he said, “This is causing a loss of revenue to the civic body besides spoiling the beauty of the cities.”HDMC officials said that they have given permission to erect 457 hoardings and flexes in twin cities, adding that they would conduct a survey of hoardings and remove all illegal ones within a fortnight.HDMC commissioner Shakeel Ahmad said they had set a target of collecting Rs 64 crore in property tax, out of which it had so far collected Rs 34 crore. He assured that the target would be reached in the next quarter. HDMC required Rs 4.5 crore to fill potholes and take up minor repairs of roads, he added.Deshpande asked the deputy commissioner to call for a meeting after Independence Day and guide HDMC on utilizing the available funds properly. He said HDMC has to give preference to protect its properties. The leaseholders who have given shops on rent for third parties should be identified and notices should be served to them. HDMC’s vacant sites should be fenced and boards that this property belongs to HDMC should be erected, he said.Mayor Sudhir Saraf informed Deshpande that 2,700 HDMC properties have been given on lease, adding that a proposal to renew the lease was pending with the Urban Development Ministry. He urged Deshpande to take up the issue and help HDMC get revenue from its properties.MLA and former chief minister Jagadish Shettar urged Deshpande to get Rs112 crore released for the pension of retired HDMC officials.‘Crackdown on anti-social activities’Deshpande directed police to crack down on all kinds of anti-social activities in the twin cities. He said the police commissioner, superintendent of police and deputy commissioner must act swiftly on complaints over illegal activities in urban and rural areas. They should keep a strict vigil on anti-social elements trying to ruin harmony in the society. Stern action should be taken against all criminals and there shouldn’t be any law & order problem, he said.MLA Shettar told him that some social clubs in Hubballi had become gambling dens and were home to other illegal activities. Though this information had been passed to police, no action had been taken. Taking serious note of this, Deshpande directed officials to conduct raids on gambling dens and initiate action against drug peddlers and book the crooks.Crop insuranceDeshpande said due to mistakes by some bank officials, many farmers haven’t got crop insurance money. Some bank officials in their forms mentioned rain-fed areas as irrigated land and therefore several farmers didn’t get the money. Banks should act responsibly and respond to problems of farmers, he said.

Stay updated with all the Latest Hubli headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.