BANGALORE : Chief minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday came down heavily on garbage contractors for turning the Garden City into a garbage city.
Inaugurating a number of infrastructure projects worth `3 crore at Shankar Mutt, Siddaramaiah said, “The BBMP must ensure that a company is capable and qualified enough to manage solid waste before engaging it.”
“Now, the BBMP is planning to find a new contractor for all the 110 wards. The civic body must ensure that the contractor is qualified. If the contractor errs, he must be punished,” he said.
He emphasised on the need to carry out an awareness campaign on segregation of dry and wet waste.
Declaring that the city will not send its waste to Mandur landfill from December 1, Siddaramaiah said the government and the civic body have identified eight locations to process garbage.
He said the BBMP should give priority to mobilising funds.
The cash-strapped civic body had collected about `1,300 crore as property tax last year. But after the chief minister took the revenue authorities to task, the tax collection increased to `2,900 crore.
“There is no accountability. Even after a girl gets washed away in a storm water drain, officials go scot-free. But laws abroad are stringent and erring officials are punished, he said.
`500 Cr to Repair State Roads
PWD Minister Mahadevappa said the government has approved `500 crore to repair the roads damaged in recent rains.
“Tenders have been called. We will take up the works after the rains stop,” he said. The government has asphalted more than 10,000 km of roads in the last one year, he claimed.