Bengaluru: BJP corporators stormed into the well of the House after passing a motion and demanding voting on the state’s decision to grant approval through an Empowered Committee headed by an Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) mandatory for works above Rs 10 crore under the state government’s grants.
During the council meeting on Tuesday, BBMP opposition leader Padmanabha Reddy condemned the powers entrusted to the committee and said that the decision, which bypasses the BBMP standing committees and council, would rob the BBMP of its powers. Mayor G. Padmavathi did not budge and BJP members walked out of the House.
The state budget has allocated Rs 7,300 crore to the BBMP under the Nagarothana Scheme for various developmental works for 2016-17 and 2017-18. But the government has made it mandatory that any project above Rs 10 crore has to be approved by the empowered committee. The government has also suggested that the projects being executed from BBMP funds and are over Rs 10 crore should be approved by the committee too.
Mr Reddy said the circular does not hold any value as the government is yet to amend Section 6 and 6A of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation (KMC) Act 1976. At present, the BBMP Council has to be kept in the loop on any development project and need its consent too, Mr Reddy said.
BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad explained that the circular is applicable only for the funds released by the state government and not for the funds raised by the BBMP, but the opposition was not convinced. Later, Mr Reddy moved a motion and demanded voting on the government’s circular.
Survey of malls, tech parks approved
BBMP Council on Tuesday gave its consent to float tenders to conduct a Total Station Survey (TSS) to ascertain the wrong declarations by owners of high value properties in the city.
The city houses 77 tech parks, 51 malls and 4,834 industries apart from thousands of residential complexes. TSS is an electronic survey to measure big properties to check on authenticity of details provided by owners. Wrong declaration has been bleeding the BBMP of its revenue, and the TSS could help ascertain exact extent and collect property tax.
Contractors demand pending bills
Members of the BBMP Contractors Association on Tuesday protested demanding clearing of pending bills of Rs 1,900 crore. The contractors said that payments have not been received for the last 25 months for the projects executed in the city.
“Contractors are finding it difficult to make payments to workers and daily wage labourers. There have been instances of contractors committing suicide. If our demand is not met, we have no option but to bring all ongoing works under the civic body to a halt,” warned Association president Ambikapathi.
