Months after the Karnataka Information Commission directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to register a complaint in the police station over missing files in connection to the annual maintenance of Storm Water Drains (SWD), the civic body is yet to do so. The case is coming up for a hearing on March 7. The direction was given on October 13, 2023 and the civic body claims they are yet to receive the copy of the order.
Initially, an RTI was filed with the BBMP seeking bills and other files on payment to a private company for annual maintenance of SWD. The company was given a ₹25 crore annual contract in 2019-2020 for three years. It is suspected that the BBMP generated fabricated bills and there was no such private company in existence and no work was done. An activist named Veeresh filed a complaint in the Lokayukta.
In 2022, when an RTI activist, B. Balakrishna filed a Right to Information (RTI) application seeking details and documents of these works, the information officer in the SWD Department responded by saying that the Department did not have any details that the activist sought. After this, he filed an appeal with the first appellate authority. Even after submitting an appeal, the BBMP did not share the details.
Mr. Balakrishna then approached the Karnataka Information Commission seeking directions to the BBMP to provide copies of the relevant files. The commission, after hearing the case for several months, found the files in the SWD Department to be “missing”. Shocked by the development, the commission directed the Executive Engineer to lodge a complaint and get a FIR registered on October 13, 2023.
Veeresh, an RTI activist talking to The Hindu said the BBMP is yet to file the complaint. From the BBMP website, he had downloaded a few bills and found that the civic body allegedly paid ₹100 crore to this company. But there were no details about the contract, inspection, or verification of the work done. To hide the alleged corruption, the BBMP is not providing the information, he alleged.
On the other hand, the Right to Information Study Centre has now filed a complaint in this connection with Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D.K. Shivakumar. The complaint has urged Mr. Shivakumar to take action against errant officials who were involved in the alleged misappropriation of the funds.
A BBMP official from the SWD Department said the department has not received the order and once they receive the order, a complaint will be filed.
