Explain temple flooding, Sadananda asks Palike

Based on the report that appeared in Deccan Herald on Thursday, Gowda and Chief Secretary S V Ranganath asked the Palike officers to provide details of the violations by Nice for its Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project.

A top Palike officer confirmed that they were preparing documents to be submitted to the chief minister and other officers, showing how the BMIC project led to the inundation of the temple.

“Every year, there is flooding during rains. But on the night of August 16, there was water up to seven feet inside the temple, which is a rare occurrence. Our investigation revealed that the coffer dam constructed by BMIC on the stormwater drain was primarily responsible for the flooding,” the officer said.

He added that the pillars in the stormwater drain were illegally built and should be demolished.

Deccan Herald had reported on Thursday that the Palike was planning to levy a penalty of Rs 15 crore on Nice for the damage caused to the public property.

‘Troublemakers’ create din

Pandemonium broke in the BBMP Council on Thursday when the ruling party corporator Gangabhyraiah called the City MLAs ‘troublemakers’.

During a discussion on the budget, former mayor K Chandrashekar expressed his dissatisfaction over granting of funds to the MLAs of the City. The JD(S) floor leader in the Council, Padmanabha Reddy, blamed Chandrashekhar for making the provision of allotting funds to the MLAs when he was the mayor of the City.

While the proceedings were taking place in a conducive atmosphere, the ‘troublemaker’ statement triggered a row in the house. Addressing Chandrashekhar, Gangabhyraiah said: “You are the one who facilitated these troublemakers by making separate budgetary provisions. Now, we are all paying for it.”

Taking a strong exception to the statement by Gangabhyraiah, corporators created a din in the house. Leader of the Opposition Udayashankar too admitted that the statement was unwarranted and Gangabhyraiah should apologise for it. The ruling party corporators came in support of their colleague and requested mayor Sharadamma to remove the word ‘troublemakers’ from the records.