BANGALORE: Issues related to garbage collection, collection of taxes, asphalting of roads and other problems took the spotlight at the BBMP council meeting held here on Thursday.
Drama unfolded at the council hall, when Jnanabharati ward (under Rajarajeshwari Nagar constituency) corporator Govindaraj sat down on the floor by stating that garbage in his ward has not been cleared for a very long time, due to which, he has been facing the ire of the residents.
“Garbage has not been cleared for several months. Contractors don’t even want to take up contracts in this area and my fund is lying unused. I have asked the District in-charge Minister to visit my ward on several occasions, but this hasn’t happened,” he said. He urged Mayor Shantakumari to visit the ward so that she could ascertain the lack of development and take action.
Shantakumari said BBMP commissioner M Lakshminarayana and herself would visit the ward on Monday. Lakshminarayana said the garbage issue in the city is being closely monitored by the BBMP as well as the High Court.
Kacharakanahalli corporator Padmanabha Reddy said the BBMP has not collected taxes from various state and central government establishments for a long time. However, the Commissioner reiterated that according to rules, one cannot tax government establishments, except, if a part of their premises has been rented out to any other commercial establishment.
‘Who is B-PAC to rate us?’: Yelahanka MLA Vishwanath came down heavily on a recent media report, with inputs from action group B-PAC, showing corporators in poor light. “Who are they to rate us in the first place? The report is totally biased and has absolutely no logic in it,” he charged.
BBMP Accounts to be Made Online
Lakshminarayana said that all the 668 bank accounts of the BBMP will be made online to ensure transparency. He said a committee has already been set up in this regard and that a report is expected in the next two weeks.
He said potholes at various roads in the city will be covered during the month of November at a cost of Rs 50 lakh.
Medicines in Short Supply
Banashankari Temple ward corporator A H Basavaraju said BBMP hospitals are ill-equipped in terms of medicines. “Since Rs 1.5 crore is set aside every year for purchasing medicines, I want to know where this money has gone,” he said. He was supported by Manjunath Reddy, who said there are no vaccines for dog bites.