BENGALURU: Mayor B N Manjunath Reddy on Monday said he wants a dedicated in-house cell in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to repair roads.
In his maiden speech, the mayor said when the civic body was known as Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP), it had a tar plant to repair roads. There was a team of men and machinery, including a road roller, to repair potholes and roads. “We did not have to depend on contractors,” he said.
Better Administration
The mayor said the administrator has done a good job in revenue mobilisation. He, however, pointed out that file clearance was still slow. “For every work, a file has to pass many tables, which delays work. There should be a time limit to clear files,” he said. He blamed assistant revenue officers for delaying the files.
Making City Eco-friendly
Reddy said he wants to see trees bear fruits and attract birds. “When I was in school, I used to enjoy birds chirping. I would like to see the old Bengaluru. We need to grow trees that attract birds,” he said.
On rain water harvesting, Reddy urged the commissioner to compulsorily include RWH in civil works. He praised Jayanagar and Basavanagudi leaders for installing RWH in many places.
Collecting Revenue: The mayor said at present BBMP is not collecting service charge from state and central government offices. “We need to check the possibility of collecting entertainment cess,” he said. He also blamed officials for not collecting advertisement tax effectively. “BBMP has not revised market rent for the past 15 years. This will give additional revenue to the Palike,” he said. He urged the commissioner to give identity numbers for BBMP properties.
Managing Garbage
The mayor called for a complete ban on plastic polythene bags below 40 microns. Councillors should start a revolution against plastic bags, he said and urged them to take up intensive cleaning on Saturdays.