Once again, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) civil contractors had to resort to a protest demanding payment of their pending bills amounting to nearly Rs. 2,000 crore.
On Tuesday, the contractors, all members of the BBMP Contractors’ Association, said they would not take up any work unless the BBMP cleared their pending bills. They have already stopped work on various projects from October 1.
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Gathering at the head office, they staged protests in front of the Commissioner’s office and that of the Chief Accounts Officer. In the mêlée, they broke a window pane. Incidentally, the civil contractors have found support in the electrical and garbage contactors. The former said if pending bills were not cleared, they would not operate streetlights from Wednesday. Association president R.J. Srinivas said the delay in clearing the bills had affected nearly 4,500 contractors. “After the previous protest, the Commissioner had assured us of releasing part of the bills ahead of Ayudha Puja. However, nothing has been released so far.”
Crucial works
Mr. Srinivas said all infrastructure works would be stopped with immediate effect. “The widening of Mysore Road and Hosur Road, construction of an underpass at Mahadevpura, remodelling of storm water drains and rejuvenation of lakes have all been stopped,” he added.
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Red tape
Mr. Goel later said the files pertaining to the funds due to BBMP from the State government, as promised in the Budget, had been sent to the Finance Department. “As soon as the funds are released to the BBMP, we will clear the pending bills,” he said.