Suicide by a 32-year-old contractor allegedly over non-payment of bills triggered protests by the contractors’ association against the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), on Monday.
Ravi Kumar, who lived with his parents at Nagarabhavi coming under Jnana Bharathi police station limits, was found hanging from the ceiling of his room by his parents, who went into his room when they realised that Ravi Kumar had not come out of his room in the morning.
The police reached the spot and shifted the body for post-mortem.
Though they claimed that further investigation would help ascertain the reason behind his extreme step, the BBMP Contractors’ Association, which staged a protest at the corporation head office, claimed that the huge amount of loans had pushed Ravi Kumar towards suicide.
Though the exact amount of his pending bills to be cleared by the BBMP is unclear, the contractors’ association has claimed that Ravi Kumar was under pressure to repay loans that he had taken from private sources at high interest rates.
R Ambikapathy, association president, alleged that the BBMP had yet to release Rs. 1.5 crore that was due to him for the past three years.
BBMP administrator T.M. Vijay Bhaskar told The Hindu that the civic body would expedite the payment of contractors’ bills after the quality checking was completed and more teams would be formed.
The quality reports for four divisions have already been submitted.
Pending bills:
Rs. 2,400 crore
Ongoing works:
Rs. 1,600 crore
Teams formed to check quality of works: 18
