BENGALURU: In a classic example of how the business community’s proximity to political powers can stop the rightful enforcement of illegal activity, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) drive to close down illegal commercial establishments in residential areas has been suspended.
This has happened due to ‘political pressure’ brought on by traders across the wards in the city who have prevailed upon their respective corporators to save their businesses despite them being in the wrong.
The BBMP had identified 8,493 such establishments. But after only 751 such establishments were closed down, further process of dealing with the remaining 7,742 has been suspended.
Manoranjan Hegade, Chief Health Officer, BBMP, told TNIE, “We had started the drive against those commercial establishments in December 2018. But later we could not carry out the process due to pressure from various quarters.”
Explaining the kind of pressure his officials were put under, Hegade said, “It was more of political pressure from within the department. The delegation of traders in all the wards approached their respective corporators and submitted representations requesting suspension of the drive. While we received instructions from many corporators not to conduct raids in their wards, a few corporators also asked us to conduct raids in their wards only after completing the raids in other wards first.”
The process of closing down the illegal establishment started only after several Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) and citizen groups staged protests against the BBMP demanding shutting down of the commercial establishments in their residential areas. Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara had ordered the BBMP to take action in the matter and set a deadline of February 2019.
BBMP Chief N Manjunatha Prasad said, “Whether there is pressure from political quarters or elsewhere, the officials should stick to their duty and complete it. If health officials don’t ensure closure of all those illegal establishments then I will suspend all those officials. They should not bother about political pressure!”
Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun slammed the corporators over interfering with and pressurizing officials from taking action in the matter. “I condemn this kind of attitude by our elected representatives. I will hold a meeting with all the zonal level health officials from BBMP. I will stand by the officials in this matter.”