Mayor M. Goutham Kumar was left red in the face on Wednesday after he acknowledged that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) council had deferred its decision to levy Land Transport Cess. This comes a day after he announced that the council had approved the cess and was hoping to collect ₹150 crore towards the improvement of Bengaluru’s roads.
Soon after the monthly meeting began, several councillors from the Opposition Congress, including party leader Abdul Wajid, stormed the well. They pointed out that levying the Land Transport Cess would burden citizens. When they cited media statements that the Mayor had given on Tuesday, Mr. Goutham Kumar admitted that he had ‘made a mistake’ by assuming that the subject had been approved.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
The Opposition councillors also sought clarity on the council revoking the earlier resolution of renaming Bellahalli Circle as Tipu Circle, and asked under what provisions of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, was this done.
BBMP Commissioner B.H. Anil Kumar said he would go through the files and take legal opinion.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Several councillors sought to know the status of the project to convert the city’s 4.8 lakh streetlights into LEDs, which should have been well under way by now. They pointed out that a delay in the project, coupled with the fact that they are not allowed to undertake repair work themselves, is exacerbating the problem of lighting in many neighbourhoods.
Mr. Anil Kumar said he had recently met the agency that won the global tender and warned them against any further delay. “If the agency delays further, the work order will be cancelled,” he said and added that he was approving proposals under the 14th Finance Commission for installation of LED lights.
Later, the council passed a resolution to hand over works to be taken with funds from the 14th Finance Commission to the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Ltd. (KRIDL).