'Building ban plan shows govt failure'

A day after Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara announced plans to ban new apartments for five years, Opposition members in the BBMP council slammed the government.

Citing the move, as reported in DH on Friday, Opposition leader in the BBMP, Padmanabha Reddy, targeted Parameshwara. "The very statement about the ban bears testimony to the failure of the state government in providing basic amenities," he said.

Satish Reddy, BJP legislator from Bommanahalli described it as hypocrisy. "On the one hand, the government rolls out the red carpet for investors but on the other, it has failed to provide solutions to problems like traffic and water.”

Recalling contributions of the BJP government towards Bengaluru development, Reddy said: "During our regime, minister Suresh Kumar got 55 crore litres of Cauvery water to Bengaluru. Neither the Siddaramaiah-led government nor the present government has been able to bring water. The delay in the widening roads is adding to the problems."

Mayor Gangambike Mallikarujun defended Parameshwara. "Water is a natural resource and its availability has become a problem."