The government seems to be in no mood to extend the term of Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) that comes to an end on Saturday. Repeated reminders for an extension have only been met with a deafening silence.
Since its inception in 1996, the BMTF’s tenure has been renewed every two years or so. However, this time round, nothing has been heard from the Urban Development Department, giving rise to speculation about the future of the task force which has ruffled many power centres.
Not acted upon
According to sources, this fiscal alone, BMTF has booked more than 180 cases pertaining to encroachment of government land, which Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials had failed to act upon.
The sources said the BMTF had written to the Urban Development Department reminding it about the extension in January and followed it up with another reminder in the first week of March, to no avail.
In its letter, the BMTF had requested the department officials to inform it in advance about its future so as to help it complete the formalities pertaining to the pending cases. “Prior information could also be useful for us to transfer the cases to other investigating agencies. But so far, we have not received any communiqué from them,” a senior BMTF officer told The Hindu .
Another three months
However, this doesn’t mean that BMTF will close shop on Saturday. It will continue to function for three months on a temporary establishment basis as mentioned in the Government Order that set it up.
“We are planning to finish all tasks before the three months,” the official said. BMTF chief R.P. Sharma confirmed that he had not received any communication regarding renewal of its mandate.
Few months to go
“We have three more months to function, and we will continue to work the way we had been working before. It is the duty of any government servant to justify the role assigned to him.”
