Chairman's absence stalls BDA works

The delay in appointing the chairman for the Bangalore Development Authority has stalled various works over the past seven months.

According to senior BDA officials, in the absence of the chairman, financial proposals could not be cleared as the board meeting could not be held, thus delaying the work.

Though the additional chief secretary (ACS) of the urban development department is in charge of the BDA, he has no authority to clear financial proposals.

"The board meeting has not been held since February, due to alleged differences between the then-chairman S T Somashekar and commissioner Rakesh Singh. Later, due to the model code of conduct, we were not able to call the board meeting or get any financial clearance for the proposals until the last week of May. After the polls, though former commissioner N Manjula scheduled the board meeting, it was cancelled after Somashekar resigned as an MLA the same day. So, there is no sign of the board meeting happening any time soon,” a BDA senior official said.

"We have requested the contractors to go ahead with work they have already taken up, promising to clear their bills after the board meeting," official added.

Extension of the payment deadline for KG Layout allottees, registration of sites at KG Layout and Arkavathy Layout, allotment of alternative sites and allocation of civic amenities sites have been awaiting the board's approval for seven months now. Approving the preparation of a detailed project report to revive Bellandur Lake is also pending.