Commissioner comes under fire at CMC meet
MLA seeks probe into development works; DC wants transparency in CMC affairs
The functioning of the City Municipal Council has come under fire from MLA K P Bachegowda and Deputy Commissioner (DC)Dr N Manjula, at Thursday’s meeting.
The MLA has demanded a Lokayukta inquiry into the development works till now in the CMC limits. He has even hinted that the CMC should be superseded if the charges are proved.
The DC, on her part, has taken the CMC commissioner, K L Basavaraj, to task and directed that the affairs of the civic body should be transparent.
Some CMC members also have expressed their ire against the commissioner. Vice-president Manjula has alleged that the officer takes decision without bringing the issues to the notice of the members.
She alleged irregularities in the auctioning of old pipelines and pump motor valves used for the Jakkalamadagu water project. There are loopholes in the sale of other used items violating tender norms, causing a loss of nearly Rs 30 lakh.
The DC had recently cancelled the tender in this regard. Wednesday’s CMC meeting was video-recorded, following the DC’s directions.
Meanwhile, people in the city alleged that CMC discusses irrelevant and useless topics.
Issues like dusty, potholed roads and poor drainage work are put on the backburner, said the residents. They said the faulty streetlights had not been repaired for a long time now.
They said the members were not bothered about the grants for their respective wards.
At Wednesday’s meeting of the CMC, the Rs 30-lakh scam relating to road and drainage works did not come up. It was said that the CMC president, commissioner and the assistant executive engineer are in the dock with regard to the scam.
Though it was expected that Opposition party members would raise the issue, it was not to be. Some members had said that the issue would certainly be raised. But they all remained silent at the meeting.
DH Impact
Deputy Commissioner Dr N Manjula has instructed that faulty signal light should be repaired and road and drainage works should be taken up at the earliest.
Deccan Herald had carried reports on September 19 and 21, 2011 about the poor condition of traffic signals in Chikkaballapur city.
