BBMP Chief Engineer (storm water drains) Siddegowda was left speechless when councillors at the BBMP council meeting, held in the BBMP head office on Tuesday, demanded to know what was being done with the Rs. 800 crore allotted under the Nagorathana scheme to the SWD department.
Councillor M.K. Gunashekhar sought to know what had been done with the funds and whether a detailed project report had been created and tenders called. “A DPR has been prepared on the basis of a report from STUP consultancy done in 2008, and we have called for tenders,” replied Mr. Siddegowda. However, he was unable to give details on what the DPR included.
Mayor G. Padmavathi directed him to present the detailed report in a week. Several councillors raised concerns over the arbitrary manner in which demolitions over storm water drains were being undertaken by the BBMP.
Earlier in the day, councillor Padmanabha Reddy sought to know what all properties were exempt from property tax and received an answer from BBMP officials that 394 buildings, including government offices, temples and schools had been exempted.