BENGALURU: Taking suo motu cognisance of TNIE’s March 31 report on the state of the underground Palike Bazaar, Upa Lokayukta Justice K N Phaneendra registered a case against Assistant Executive Engineers Farzana and Madhura of Bengaluru West City Corporation and Giriraj, police inspector of Vijaynagar traffic police station.
To examine whether there was any inaction or maladministration on the part of the authorities concerned and treating TNIE’s report as source material to exercise suo moto power under Section 7(2) of the Karnataka Lokayukta Act, the Upa Lokayukta on Wednesday issued notice and summons to the trio. He also directed them to take all measures to redress grievances, if any, as highlighted in the report, immediately and submit the action taken report in person by June 10, the next date of hearing.
The TNIE report highlighted that all 79 shops in Krishnadevaraya Palike Bazaar, constructed at a cost of Rs 13 crore, remain shut, despite facilities like escalators, air conditioning and a lift, and vendors to whom these shops were allotted continue to run their businesses on the footpath near the Vijaynagar Metro station.
Citing the TNIE report, Justice Phaneendra stated that most of the vendors encroached the footpath and road in front of the bazaar and Metro station.
Therefore, it can be ascertained that due lack of measures by the authorities concerned, taxpayers’ money, which was spent on the construction of the bazaar, was being wasted, and pedestrians and other users of the road are being inconvenienced, he added.
Referring to a verdict of the Bombay High Court in a suo motu public interest litigation, the Upa Lokayukta said, “The principle laid down in the judgment would cast an obligation on the authority to maintain roads in good condition. But the news item indicates that pedestrians have no footpath to walk near the complex-bazaar and Metro station. Further, roads are also blocked by vendors as they are not using the air-conditioned shops in the bazaar for various reasons”.
The Upa Lokayukta marked a copy of the order to the commissioner and chief engineer of West City Corporation and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic-West Division) and the Bengaluru Urban district in-charge minister for necessary action.
