BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday directed the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to appoint the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to conduct an audit of pothole-filling works in the city. Granting two weeks for the BBMP to appoint IISc to assess the quality of work done, the division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Hemant Chandangoudar said that IISc will launch the audit when it receives communication from the BBMP.
The BBMP should appoint IISc two weeks after it receives the copy of the order. It should submit a copy of the appointment order and mention the terms and conditions to the court in four weeks, it said.
The bench directed the BBMP to conduct a survey to find out how many roads are free of potholes and how many are affected by works taken up by civic agencies. Setting March 31, 2020 as a deadline to complete the survey, the bench directed the BBMP Commissioner to fix a time limit to complete the works taken up by these agencies.
Ordering that the BBMP should complete works on the remaining 34 roads by April-end 2020, the bench asked it to move the court for necessary directions if the said agencies do not cooperate. The Commissioner should give fresh publicity about grievance redressal mechanism and adopt a cheaper mode of publicity, it said.
The court was hearing public interest litigation filed by Vijayan Menon and others seeking directions to the BBMP. Posting the matter to March 31, 2020, the bench asked the BBMP to consider invoking the penalty clause against contractors if they compromised with quality of work.
HC orders notice to Mayor, Dy Mayor, others
Bengaluru: Noting that it cannot be a mute spectator when majesty of the court is challenged, the division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Hemant Chandangoudar issued notices to the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Leader of Ruling Party, Chairman of Standing Committees and the Leader of the Opposition in BBMP. The bench directed them to file affidavits by March 16, 2020, stating whether the meeting was held as claimed by Commissioner B H Anil Kumar in his affidavit.
The Commissioner had filed the affidavit stating that a unanimous resolution was passed in the meeting participated by these political representatives. The Commissioner stated that the resolution was passed not to implement the direction of the court, which had earlier directed the BBMP to give wide publicity to let citizens know that they are entitled to compensation from the BBMP in case of accidents due to potholes or poor condition of roads.