BANGALORE: The cash-strapped Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has close to 700 accounts in various banks across the city, but has no idea how many have been frozen.
This was revealed at the BBMP Administration Committee review meeting on Monday. Umesh Shetty, a committee member, told Express that BBMP officials don’t know how much money is left in these accounts. “This shows how irresponsible they are,” he said.
The committee has given the officials one week to furnish details of these accounts.
When M K Shankarlinge Gowda was BBMP commissioner, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had objected to the civic body opening more than 600 bank accounts. “This was some two years back. Even after the CAG objection, BBMP officials opened new accounts,” Shetty said.
Mayor Shanthakumari said she has directed the Admin Committee to take action and close unnecessary accounts. “We are not able to trace the flow of funds. With too many accounts, we are not able to keep track of recipients and payments. We’ll close all the accounts which are not needed,” she said.