BBMP gets new commissioner
It is official now. S Subramanya, Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner, has been replaced by Bharat Lal Meena, Secretary, Social Welfare Department.
While Subramanya has been appointed Principal Secretary, Agriculture Department, Meena is scheduled to take over as BBMP Commissioner on Monday. The government issued the transfer orders on Saturday.
Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Saturday insisted that Subramanya himself had sought the transfer. But official sources said Yeddyurappa was under intense pressure from various lobbies to transfer him from the BBMP for various reasons. The notification was issued soon after the chief minister held a meeting with his party MLAs and MPs in the City on Saturday morning.
Many reasons were heard for transferring Subramanya from the BBMP. Some influential people who are into illegal constructions were upset with Subramanya, as the Palike has been slapping show-cause notices on them for violating building norms. It is said a Rajya Sabha member had pressured the officer to issue permission to construct an eight-storey building at Koramangala. The commissioner did not sanction the building on technical grounds.
The MP suggested demolition of certain buildings to widen the road and meet the BBMP specification. However, the commissioner did not agree. The MP, in collusion with a minister, brought pressure on the chief minister to transfer the commissioner.
Besides, issuing show-cause notices to the Nitte Education Institute of Yelahanka also proved costly for the commissioner, it is said. Another source said Subramanya invited trouble by making certain “unwarranted” comments in the controversy over the Abhikshek drowning case.
Being in a responsible position, he should not have said that it was not possible to fence all the open drains. He had also said that Abhishek’s mother should have taken care of the boy, sources said.
The chief minister did not take cognizance of his utterances. In fact, Yeddurappa in public had complimented the commissioner on working for the development of the City.
Subramanya filed a defamation case against Lokayukta Santosh Hegde taking exception to his comment that the commissioner should have visited Abishek’s house.
Later Subramanya withdrew the case as directed by the chief minister. The officer had not taken government permission to file the case, official sources said. He would have invited legal problems if had pursued the case. For his own good, the government relieved him of the post, an officer said.
Posting on request
And, as per the request by Subramanya, he has been posted to the Agriculture Department, sources said.
Subramanya was Commissioner of the Agriculture Department some years ago.
On Friday, a section of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators met Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and requested him not to transfer the commissioner as he was doing a good work.
No transfer
They also thought that it was not wise to transfer the commissioner “when elections to the Palike are due.”
Though on Friday Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa withheld his decision, he issued the transfer orders the next day.
