During his tenure the BMP was rechristened as the BBMP: its area was extended from 226 sq km  to 800 sq km. Mr Jairaj says getting the public’s constructive cooperation has been his toughest challenge. However, there have been    many ‘significant’ achievements. In an an exclusive interview with Hemanth C S and Satish Shile of the Deccan Herald, Mr K Jairaj spoke about his experiences and the challenges he faced.
Excerpts:

It has almost been a year since you were appointed commissioner of the BMP – how do you look at the year gone by?
Looking back I am quite satisfied. There have been some significant achievements during the last year – they  include the institution of Suvarna Khata, Suvarna Paravanagi, construction of footpaths, introduction of health tenders to clear municipal solid waste, improvement in tax collection and execution of works under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Revival Mission. I don’t claim that I alone did all this in a year. Here I acted as a catalyst. With the support of the state government, particularly the honourable chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, who holds the portfolio of Urban development, the cooperation of public representatives and the Palike staff we  could achieve something. Suvarna Khata and Suvarna Paravanagi were introduced to address complaints of corruption in the Palike. Now the public can get their khatas and building plans approved within two or three days. The collection of property tax has increased by 35 per cent in 2006-07 compared to the previous years. That’s because of the greater efficiency showed by the staff. Similarly, the remodelling of stormwater drains – this year we  completed works worth Rs 135 crore. In the previous year works worth Rs 35 crore were completed.

Despite the progress on stormwater drains, a woman was washed away in a drain in the recent rains; many areas were also flooded.
Incidents like these occur because at some point the drain walls were not constructed properly and the vents were closed. Besides, the sub-standard work and lack of supervision by local engineers have resulted in such unforeseen incidents. I have taken strict action and directed that all drain works be  completed by the year-end. As far as the flooding is concerned  it is due to the encroachments. You can see constructions which have come up on the drains. The Palike has removed about  1,000 such constructions. Action against illegal constructions in the drain area will continue.

Is there any political pressure against such action?
As of now there is no such pressure. Yes there will be local resistance. Encroachers form a group and oppose the Palike’s action. But there is no way out. We have to face them and do our duty.

What about the challenges that you have faced during the last year?
I have been facing three major challenges. One is how to get constructive public participation in the Palike’s works. Both the Palike and the public should work as partners, not as adversaries. Instead of blaming the BBMP for everything the public should also execute their duties. The public throw garbage in stormwater drains; in some places they construct unauthorised buildings and then complain against the Palike for not stopping such constructions. The second challenge is how to improve the ‘execution excellence’. Ours is a local body and there will be pressure on the staff from local leaders. Despite the pressure they have to execute the work. It has been my challenge to make the staff programme-oriented and execute the works well in time.
The third and major challenge is how to make the entire system pro-active. Right now we react and are not pro-active. If there is dog bite case we react to it, if there is rain havoc we react. But when will we become pro-active? I have asked all my engineers to anticipate five major problems of the Palike and submit a pro-active action plan to me.

It was during your tenure that the BMP became the BBMP. What were the challenges regarding the inclusion of new areas?
We have faced many challenges in the new areas. The public there do not have drinking water facilities, proper roads, street lights, drainage. The Palike has a contingency plan to address the drinking water problem in those areas. We have sunk 160 borewells and are supplying water through tankers. Zonal offices headed by deputy commissioners have been established. Officials will inspect the areas and address the problems.

The Palike has come up with a new health licence under which a businessman in one of the erstwhile CMC areas has to pay for a licence on par with a businessman in a posh locality in Bangalore. How do you justify that?
We are charging a licence fee with respect to the size of the business. If a person has established a petty shop he will pay less. We do  not differentiate with respect to areas. If we charge according to locality, that will lead to too much of a distinction among areas in one city. We have to take Bangalore as a whole.

The chief minister has been critical about the performance of BBMP officials especially bureaucrats. Your response?
He has made some very valid points on which I completely agree.  We have to be responsible to the public. However, I alone as the Commissioner cannot be blamed. The media too has blamed me, and at times, has gone overboard. Newspapers sometimes have only highlighted the negative aspects and ignored the positive ones.

Prior to your appointment as the BBMP Commissioner you were on deputation to New York as World Bank Senior Public Sector Management Specialist in Africa Region. How has the World Bank stint helped you in overseeing the day-to-day administration of the BBMP?
The two years I spent at the World Bank was very fruitful as it has given me an international perspective. Now I understand the system much better and am able to judge people and execute work in a much better manner.