The Special Lokayukta Court, Bangalore, on Friday directed the Lokayukta police to register a first information report (FIR) against senior officials of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and investigate the alleged scam in awarding garbage disposal tenders. The Lokayukta police have been directed to submit their findings to the court by January 24.
The order was passed on a private complaint filed by the former Mayor P.R. Ramesh, who said senior bureaucrats had colluded in the scam. He alleged that BBMP Commissioner Rajneesh Goel, Urban Development Principal Secretary Amita Prasad and eight others conspired to benefit the contractors by tampering with the tender process. Though the proposal was for clearance of 100 per cent waste, terms added later authorised the contractors to sell 30 per cent of dry waste after segregation. Such changes in tender documents were in violation of the Transparency Act and were done to ensure personal gain to all contractors who are hand in glove with the officials, he said.
“Instead of paying contractors to lift dry waste, the BBMP could have granted permission to another contractor to lift and sell the dry waste at the segregation point. This could have ensured income for the BBMP,” he said. “With the cost of dry waste at Rs. 10 per kg, daily sale of such dry waste brings the contractor a whopping Rs. 1 crore every day.”
