Minister for Urban Development and Haj Roshan Baig told the Legislative Council on Monday that an inquiry by an official of the rank of Secretary would be initiated into the allegations of nexus between contractors, officials and council members in award of tenders in Hubballi Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC).
Responding to the discussion on the call attention motion moved by Janata Dal (Secular) member Basavaraj Horatti during zero hour on Monday, the Minister also said that the inquiry would be completed within 15 days and based on the inquiry report the State Cabinet would take further action.
Terming the alleged nexus as an issue of serious nature, Mr. Baig said that the issue needed to be inquired considering the problems being faced by the residents of the twin cities because of inordinate delay in execution of public works and poor maintenance of basic amenities.
The Minister said after coming to know about the inordinate delay in implementation of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) between Hubballi and Dharwad he had asked the officials whether they were constructing the ‘eighth wonder’ of the world. “After my visit I transferred officials in key positions and now the project implementation has been expedited”, he said.
Earlier, raising the issue and displaying newspaper clippings of various newspapers, Mr. Horatti sought an answer from the Minister on when the problems of the twin cities would be solved and the residents would get some respite. On the written reply given by the Minister, Mr. Horatti said while the State government had sanctioned funds under various projects, there was no ground level improvement. In his elaborate address, he mentioned about the nexus and how it had affected the infrastructural development of the twin cities. Mr.Horatti also mentioned about the menace of stray pigs and stray dogs .
He was joined by BJP member Pradeep Shettar and Congress member Shrinivas Mane who mentioned about the lack of coordination among the officials had made the life miserable for the residents.
Pension dues
Mr. Pradeep Shettar referred to the pending dues of over Rs. 137 crore towards pension of the HDMC employees and said the municipal corporation was forced to divert funds meant for development works to pay the pension to the retired employees.
Minister for Mines and Geology and district-in-charge for Dharwad Vinay Kulkarni intervened in the discussion. However when he started blaming BJP for the maladministration and alleged that the Centre had not given adequate funds to the State under different heads, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council K.S. Eshwarappa and other BJP members took exception, which subsequently led to a war of words.
The discussion ended with Minister Baig saying that he had already convened a meeting of legislators and council members of Hubballi-Dharwad and would take necessary remedial measures.
