BBMP chief appoints nodal officers to do corporators' job

The BBMP commissioner has appointed nodal officers to 198 wards to fill in the vacuum left by corporators whose terms have ended.

The nodal officers will head the ward-level committees and handle public grievances. BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad issued an order appointing the nodal officers to each ward with their names, designations, and phone numbers.

While corporators had been responding to people’s problems, the commissioner said the officials will now step in to fill the vacuum created by the end of their terms and help solve civic issues.

Special commissioners, joint commissioners, zonal chief engineers and other chief engineers, executive engineers, assistant executive engineers and deputy commissioners are nodal officers to the wards where they live.

Members of residents' welfare associations will be members of the ward committees, while one of the assistant engineers, senior health inspectors or junior engineers will be the secretary of the committee.

The committee will supervise roads, parks, playgrounds and stormwater drains, besides overseeing public health services, garbage disposals and property tax collection. It will have public hearings on the first week or third Saturday of the month, the commissioner added.

The committee was also given charge of supervising garbage collection vehicles, garbage collection from domestic and commercial establishments, creating awareness on waste segregation, imposing fine on households that do not segregate waste and maintaining good relationships with RWAs and NGOs.

It had also been charged with conducting health camps and monitoring roadworks, besides filing complaints against digging for OFCs or for other purposes. The committee had also been responsible for clearing illegal flex boards and banners and taking relief works to flooded areas.