BWSSB chief engineer faces music
T Venkataraju, engineer-in-chief of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), found himself at the receiving end when corporators poured their water woes before him at the BBMP council meeting on Wednesday.
No sooner did Venkataraju enter the Council Hall than the Corporators demanded that Mayor Sharadamma and Commissioner Shankarlinge Gowda should address their water and sewerage-related grievances. Byatarayanapura ward Corporator Indira alleged BWSSB was not supplying adequate water in her ward.
Before Venkataraju could answer, Congress corporator Sampath Kumar demanded the rationale behind BWSSB hastily giving the no objection certificate for water connections to the multi-storey apartments, while ignoring the water woes of independent house owners. Sampath Kumar also flayed the Board for its plans to stop water supply through tankers in the City.
The corporators alleged valvemen were being partial and indulging in petty politics. BJP Corporator Ashwath Narayana Gowda too criticised the BWSSB for failing to discharge its duties, due to which corporators had to face the people’s ire.
In reply, Venkataraju said the Board had a proposal to stop supplying water through water tankers, but no decision had been taken. He admitted there was a severe water crisis in East and North Zones.
Replying to Congress Corporator Gunashekar’s question, Venkataraju said Bangalore could at the most draw 19 tmc ft of water from River Cauvery, while it is presently providing 12 tmc ft to the City. He told the House that BWSSB was laying another pipeline to draw the remaining seven TMC of water.
BWSSB, he said, would consider recommendations to extend the deadline by three months for mandatory rainwater harvesting system in houses built on an area of 2,400 sq ft and above. However, the year-end deadline remained as of now.
‘Tax tech parks’
Yediyur corporator N R Ramesh told the Council meeting that BBMP had ignored the technology parks and business parks, which could fetch at least Rs 700 crore in the form of taxes annually. He said the Palike was collecting taxes totalling Rs 61 crore from 13 such parks, whereas the total number of parks was 22.
Ramesh alleged there were attempts to suppress information about the total area of the tech park and business park buildings. As against the claimed area of 69 lakh square feet, the buildings are spread over 3.5 crore square feet, said Ramesh.
He suggested the BBMP commissioner to opt for electronic total station equipment, which costs about Rs five lakh, to take building measurements without entering inside. In reply, Gowda assured the corporator that his suggestions would be implemented.
Drive against illegal OFCs
M Udayashankar, Leader of the Opposition in the Council, accused the BBMP administration of giving up the drive against illegally laid Optical Fibre Cables (OFCs).
Udayashankar said the Palike administration had been claiming that 25,000-km-long OFCs were laid in the City, while the telecom companies said they laid OFCs for a mere 5,000 km.
He said BBMP expected a revenue of Rs 780 crore from the telecom companies as
rent for laying the OFCs, but so far the Palike could collect only a small fraction of the amount. Shankarlinge Gowda said the Palike would not spare anyone and the drive would resume soon.
Garbage menace
JD-S leader Padmanabha Reddy warned Mayor Sharadamma and Commissioner Shankarlinge Gowda that he would file a case in the court if they failed to rid the City of garbage menace. Reddy said the Palike did not have the moral right to collect garbage cess from residents when it could not keep the City clean.
Karim Khan Road
The BBMP Commissioner said the 100-feet Road at Indira Nagar would be named after eminent writer Karim Khan.
The ruling party was adamant that the road be named after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Gowda suggested that Bellary Road could be named after Vajpayee.
However, Congress corporator Munirathna Naidu objected to it, saying Bellary Road should be named after Sir M Visvesvaraya.
Shelter for homeless
The Commissioner said the Palike was committed to provide shelter to homeless people in the City as directed by the Supreme Court.
Replying to a question by Congress corporator Gunashekar, Gowda said it was an obligation on the part of the Palike to ensure shelter to the urban homeless population.
