Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has directed the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) not to take fresh loans. The civic body should function with its own resources and government grants, he said.
In the Legislative Council on Thursday, the Chief Minister turned the tables on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said his government was not responsible for the crumbling infrastructure in Bangalore. “You claim to have released thousands of crores of rupees to the BBMP during five years of BJP rule. If it is so, how come there are potholes on roads? What happened to the funds? We are repairing the roads damaged during your rule,” he told Leader of the Opposition D.V. Sadananda Gowda, responding to Mr. Gowda’s claim that the BJP had released over Rs. 3,900 crore to BBMP between 2008 and 2013.
The response was to a question from Tara, on loans borrowed by the BBMP. According to Mr. Siddaramaiah, the BBMP has borrowed Rs. 3,420.85 crore from various financial institutions and repaid Rs. 568.11 crore. The palike has pledged several properties, including K.R. Market and Public Utility Building complex for a Rs. 1,545.85 crore loan from HUDCO.
He said the government had allocated Rs. 1,586 crore to the BBMP this financial year, of which Rs. 900 crore had been released. Besides, Rs. 300 crore had been released for road repair and Rs. 250 crore for improvement of infrastructure in 110 villages added to BBMP.
