BBMP has exposed its own inadequacies by releasing a report from its quality control wing
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike
BENGALURU: BBMP has exposed its own inadequacies by releasing a report from its quality control wing, which said over 90 per cent of BBMP works are sub standard.
The BBMP quality control wing has scrutinised 181 various projects executed by the BBMP and revealed that as many as 170 were of poor quality. These works were executed from April to September this year.
A slew of completed projects across the city are said to be shoddily done and substandard in quality as per the report. More skeletons are likely to tumble out of the closet soon.
Four BBMP executive engineers working for the quality control wing headed by Engineer-in- Chief M. Rangaraju have inspected the work and submitted their report. Ninety per cent of the work related to asphalting, road formation, building construction and drain remodeling, is mediocre. Of the 48 road-related works, 43 are of poor quality including major road repairs, revealed the report.
“It is sad to hear that over 90 per cent of the works executed are shoddy and that tax payers’ money is going down the drain. I have asked for the quality control report of all the works since 2010. I have also recommended that the BBMP commissioner withhold the bills. Money should be released… the money for the works executed based on the quality. The engineers who monitored or supervised these projects should be suspended immediately,” said Mr. B. N. Manjunath Reddy, opposition leader in the BBMP.
It was disappointing to know that out of 181 works, only 11 works had adhered to quality standards, he added. There is a need for a high-level monitoring mechanism to ensure quality civil works and to put tax payers’ money to better use.
Invariably, the contractors and officials collude. Most of the contractors who execute these projects enjoy the support of corporators and it is easy for them to get the money released even if they do shoddy work, said Vivek Menon, urban expert.
Apart from the engineers who are responsible for poor quality works, even the Chief Finance Officer who releases money without looking into quality control reports, must be made responsible. The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) seems to have turned a blind eye towards such shoddy work, said Mr. Menon.
Palike may increase market shops’ rent:
Cash starved BBMP is considering hiking rents on shops at all the BBMP markets to tide over its bleak financial situation. The hike is expected to be around 25 per cent.
However, BBMP’s decision does not seem to have gone down well with the traders , who are crying foul over the BBMP’s unsatisfactory infrastructure at markets. G. N. Diwakar, Vice President of BBMP Market Vendors’ Association, said BBMP has leveraged itself to hike rents indiscriminately.
Already, traders are paying Rs 9 per square foot per month. But the BBMP proposes to enhance this to between Rs 29 to Rs 31. On their part, the traders are deprived of facilities like water, quality toilets, parking space and a customer friendly atmosphere, he said.
K. R. market has nearly 2,000 shops. The traders have decided to submit a memorandum urging the civic body to reverse their decision, failing which the traders will be forced to knock at the doors of the court, he said.
Speaking to reporters, B. R. Nanjundappa, Chairman of the Market Committee, claimed that the BBMP had not revised market shop rents for the last three decades. The BBMP, he said, spends about Rs 70 lakh on K R Market in solid waste management, but the BBMP in return is not even getting Rs. one crore rent per year.
By increasing the rent, the BBMP gets an additional Rs 110 crore. If they do not agree to pay the revised rent, the BBMP would have to clear them out or take legal action, said Mr. Nanjundappa.
Software not installed, but BBMP bags award!
The BBMP bagged the World e-Governments Organisation of Cities and Local Governments (WeGO) award at Chengdu in China last week for its best e-government initiative including road history software.
Ironically, the BBMP is yet to implement the software on road history that details the asphalting date, cost, drainage, contractor and other vital information.
Ruling party leader in BBMP N.R. Ramesh on Wednesday said that although the software was developed sometime ago, it has not been implemented due to technical glitches. However, the data for the last three years on roads is being fed into the system and it would be completed in a couple of months.
The engineers are being trained on it, he said. Mr Manjunath Raju, former chairman, BBMP Taxation and Finance Committee, who was associated with the software, said five agencies deal with road infrastructure. Sadly, there is a lack of coordination between the BBMP, BDA, Bescom and Bengaluru Traffic Police. “The software helps us to prevent duplication of bills,” he said.
Unfortunately, the civic body is ye to implement it. The BBMP chief is apathetic towards it. In 2012, Wego had awarded the BBMP for its GIS-based Property Identification (PID) number system. Cities like Ahmedabad, Surat and Chennai have also implemented similar systems after its success here.
If the BBMP delays it further, other cities may claim credit for implementing it, he said. Mayor Shanthakumari said local governments from 98 countries were in the race and the BBMP bagged the coveted award. The software is developed by the city-based Cyber Tech at an estimated cost of Rs 1.25 crore.
( Source : dc )
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