Lifting of garbage, khata transfer, building plan approval and other services were severly hit on Wednesday due to the indefinite strike by the Palike employees protesting the arrest warrants issued against the Palike engineers, including Engineer-in-Chief B T Ramesh.
The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) staff are up in arms against the BMTF (Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force) for registering cases against 16 engineers and filing charge sheets against them for ignoring its notices on building plan violations. There were rumours that the BMTF is planning to register about 150 more cases. The BBMP Employees and Officers' Union, under whose aegis the indefinite strike has been organised, demanded the removal of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Dr R P Sharma, who they alleged has unleashed terror in the Palike. They also said that the engineers are living in fear. The main protest was organised at the BBMP head office where nearly 2,000 employees gathered in the morning.
Act unjustified
Mayor D Venkatesh Murthy and the Floor Leader of the Palike council, who backed the strike, dubbed the BMTF action unjustified. Some independent corporators too came in support of the Palike engineers. Addressing the protestors, the Mayor questioned the achievements of the BMTF and expressed his displeasure over registration of cases against the engineers.
Unity mantra
The president of the Association, R Subramanyam, asked the employees and officers to remain united to fight against the injustice meted out by the BMTF. “Our unity is our strength. We must demonstrate our unity till we achieve the goal. The State government cannot celebrate Independence Day without our support. Private garbage contractors too are supporting us. They have assured us that they will not lift garbage from the City till our demands are met,” said Subramanyam.
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