Councillors question delay in payment to contractors

Claim they were not even aware about the strike by electrical contractors

June 22, 2018 08:17 pm | Updated June 23, 2018 08:31 am IST

Newly-elected MLA from Jayanagar Sowmya Reddy (left) made her debut in the BBMP Council meeting, at the civic headquarters, on Friday.

Newly-elected MLA from Jayanagar Sowmya Reddy (left) made her debut in the BBMP Council meeting, at the civic headquarters, on Friday.

The impromptu strike called by electrical contractors that saw a delay in switching on street lights for a few hours on Wednesday evening was the focus of a special council meeting on Friday. Several BBMP councillors, cutting across party lines, sought to know the reason for the delay in clearing pending bills..

Mayor R. Sampath Raj asked why the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials did not comply with the council’s direction on releasing the payment. Opposition Leader Padmanabha Reddy and former mayor B.S. Sathyanarayana said it seemed that the BBMP would release payments to contractors only if they staged a protest.

“We did not even know about the strike... we got to know only after calling the control room,” Mr. Sathyanarayana said.

Councillors said that the police often call them to complain about inadequate street lighting.

BBMP Commissioner M. Maheshwar Rao said that street light bills come under the priority category and bills under this category are paid on ‘seniority’ (time based), as per directions of the Karnataka High Court. He said that the council can take a decision to move street light bills from the priority category to the essential category where payments are made immediately.

The other subjects under the essential category include drilling borewells, drinking water, solid waste management and Onti Maney (housing) scheme.

Commercial establishments outside Metro stations

Attiguppe councillor S. Raju and Vijayanagar councillor Srilatha C. Gopinathraju pointed to the rise in commercial establishments outside metro stations, which they said were impeding the movement of vehicles on the main road. They also alleged that several commercial establishments were being allowed to function on pavements.

Mr. Sampath Raj asked the civic commissioner to look into the conditions of the memorandums of understanding signed between Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. and the BBMP.

The BBMP had issued work order to a contractor to collect and transport municipal solid waste from 30 wards in East zone without floating a tender. Stating that this was against the rules, Opposition Leader Padmanabha Reddy claimed that the subject had not been approved either by any standing committee or the council.

As per the Karnataka High Court's previous orders, the BBMP cannot award more than five wards to one particular contractor.

“Many decisions are being taken by officials, without them being discussed or approved by the standing committees or council. Recently, the BBMP decided to increase the rental rates for compactors and auto tippers that are hired to transport waste to the landfills or processing plants without it being approved by the council,” he alleged.

'Seek funds from State government'

Opposition Leader Padmanabha Reddy, during the special council meeting, said the government had approved the BBMP's budget for 2018-19 with an outlay of Rs. 10,200 crore with a rider that civic body can only plan its expenditures according to its revenues.

“The BBMP has already taken up programmes under the Nagarottana scheme and other State funds, but the funds have not been released yet. The BBMP must urge the government to release the funds, lest the work suffer,” he said.

BBMP Commissioner M. Maheshwar Rao said that various works for Rs. 10,000 crore had been approved under State infrastructure grants and Nagarottana grants, and the government had released Rs. 5,000 crore already. “We will make efforts to ensure that there will be no stoppage of works,” he said.

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