The BBMP is struggling to clear dues of contractors for works completed even two years ago. It owes over Rs. 1,000 crore to nearly 2,000 contractors.
“The civic body does not have the cash but neither has it taken the initiative to sort out this problem. Each month, the BBMP releases around Rs. 5 crore to clear old dues while bills generated amount to Rs. 60 crore,” said T. Venkatesh, General Secretary, BBMP Contractors’ Association.
Furthermore, contractors allege that numerous palms need to be greased even for release of small amounts.
BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad said the civic body is trapped in a cycle of debt due to financial indiscipline.
“The budgets two years ago sanctioned works of up to Rs. 4,500 crore when realistically, the revenue was around Rs. 3,500 crore,” he explained.
On corruption in payments, he said contractors had refused to give specifics on the bribes sought by BBMP officials nor do they want to approach higher authorities with their complaints.
