Bengaluru: The BBMP had released a whopping Rs 2.12 crore for the white topping (on a concrete road) of a stretch of road between Sadashivanagar police junction to MS Ramaiah college junction, which was left incomplete!
This project was estimated to cost Rs 3.90 crore.
The money was released to the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL), even before the council approved of the project or rejected it.
The remaining money was also approved, as the contractor claimed that the work had been completed. As the cost for the work exceeded Rs 3 crore, getting approval from the council was a must.
Former BJP, ruling party leader N. R. Ramesh told Deccan Chronicle that political pressure ensured that the BBMP released a major chunk of money, even before the project was approved in the council, to favour the contractor Jayaram, who was executing the project on behalf of the KRIDL.
Shockingly, the ‘white topping’ work has been rejected by the former ward corporator Dr Shivaprakash, former Chairperson of the standing committee on major works Geeta Vivekananda and BBMP’s administrator T. M. Vijay Bhaskar.
Shivaprakash had stated that since several utilities run beneath the road it requires road cuttings to fix problems and white topping was not necessary.
Following the directions by N. Shanktakumari, former Mayor and Ms Vivekananda, pointed out during an inspection that the road was in good condition and needed no asphalting. Despite this, the file was sent to the BBMP administrator T. M. Vijay Bhaskar.
Bhaskar questioned why the file was being presented repeatedly, despite being rejected by the council and the standing committee for major works. This clearly shows that vested interests were behind it, said Ramesh.
After the new council was formed, led by the Congress-JD(S) coalition, the subject was again placed in the council in January 2016, and approved too, despite opposition from the BJP.
However, the BJP will not allow the BBMP to release any funds and will fight a legal battle to prevent public money going to waste. In the last two years, not an inch of asphalt has been provided on the road between Sadashivanagar police junction to MS Ramaiah college junction, concludes Mr. Ramesh.
