Udupi, (The Hindu): As many as 52 cases were disposed at the hearing of public complaints by Lokayukta P. Vishwanatha Shetty at the District Offices Complex Hall here on Monday.

Responding to a complaint on lack of proper functioning of underground drainage system during the hearing, Mr. Shetty said there should be scientific disposal of waste in all 158 gram panchayats and five urban local bodies in the district, especially in the 62 GPs and four urban local bodies located by the side of National Highway 66. It was incumbent upon all the Executive Officers and Panchayat Development Officers (PDOs) to take effective steps in this regard, he said.

Already the district administration had given training to the personnel on maintenance of cleanliness. This should be implemented. The GP representatives too should cooperate in this regard, he said.

Some residents of Udyavara complained about pollution in their village and that it was causing a lot of problem to them. Mr. Shetty directed them to give a detailed complaint, which would be looked into as per law.

While listening to another complaint, Mr. Shetty said that the Lokayukta Office was receiving a lot of complaints about harassment to people at many sub-registrar offices in the State. The Lokayukta will not hesitate to conduct raids on such offices through the Anti-Corruption Bureau and take legal, he said.

While hearing a complaint on delay in providing land grant certificates, Mr. Shetty said that officials of the Revenue Department should process the files of land grant without delay so that the beneficiaries need not wait for long time.

Many of the complaints at the hearing were related to land, sand removal, farmer contact centres and those of private bus companies against the government buses.

G. Anuradha, Additional Deputy Commissioner, welcomed the gathering. H.A. Mohan, Registrar, Lokayukta, Priyanka Mary Francis, Deputy Commissioner, Shivananda Kapashi, CEO of Zilla Panchayat, Sanjeev M. Patil, Superintendent of Police, were present.