BENGALURU: Nudged by allegations of misappropriation to the tune of hundreds of crores in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in the name of solid waste management, the State Government has appointed a former IAS officer to conduct a comprehensive probe. A report is expected to be submitted in two months.
On the directives of CM B S Yediyurappa, the Urban Development Department issued an order recently appointing G V K Rao to look into four major issues. The first is regarding irregularities in spending Rs 1,067 crore per year for solid waste management (SWM).
Another allegation is that Rs 410 crore was spent on setting up seven scientific solid waste processing units, most of which have become defunct now. Thirdly, hundreds of crores were spent on procuring solid waste disposal vehicles like mechanical sweepers and compactors. Also, huge amounts were spent on procuring international standard liners for quarries in Bagalur, Mitaganahalli and Bellalli.
In the order, the Urban Development Department has referred to a contract for Rs 55.27 crore was given to Zonta Infratech Pvt Ltd in 2017 for solid waste in BBMP limits. This included installation of 200 Underground Dustbins (UDs) and procurement of eight trucks with cranes to collect the waste from UDs, transportation of waste to processing units and maintenance of UDs for 60 months with required staffers.
However, it is alleged that there was large-scale irregularities in the works. It is said that not even 10% of the Underground Dustbins were installed.