EiC accused of amassing wealth

Yediyur corporator N R Ramesh alleged in the BBMP Council that the BBMP Engineer-in-Chief (EiC) B T Ramesh has accumulated wealth worth Rs 300 crore although his total income does not exceed Rs 2 crore.

Ramesh alleged that the BBMP commissioner Siddaiah had attempted to prevent the wastage of public money by freezing 1,970 works worth Rs 532 crore but the officers under him do not have such commitment.

Such officers, said Ramesh, were primarily responsible for the leakage of resources. He said he has prepared a list of 100 corrupt BBMP officials who made huge money through bribe and illegal means.

Citing example of B T Ramesh, he said: “I know for sure that the the Engineer-in-Chief owns a property worth Rs 300 crore although his total income is below Rs two crore. I have evidences with me to prove my point.”

In an attempt to detail the rot in the system, he highlighted the plight of contractors who have to pay bribes right from the assistant engineer to the people in the top.

The corporator said barring a few such as Siddaiah, BBMP special commissioner K R Niranjan and chief engineer N Devaraj other officers are wholly corrupt.

Meeting questioned

The Opposition Congress in the BBMP Council questioned the legality of the meeting held on Thursday as the Mayor and his deputy are now just caretakers, after their term came to an end in April.

The Congress alleged that Venkatesh Murthy and his deputy L Srinivas had no right to continue. They termed the Council meeting illegal.

To lodge their protest, they rushed to the well of the House. However, Special Commissioner K R Niranjan defended the action, saying this was a special occasion and the posts could not remain vacant. He maintained that the legal opinion was sought from former Advocate General, Ashok Harnahalli, before convening the meeting.

He even quoted the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, in this regard. He convinced the Opposition members that the elections to the post of Mayor and Deputy Mayor could not be held as the model code of conduct for the Assembly elections was in place.

He said a writ petition in the High Court, regarding the reservation to the post of Mayor or Deputy Mayor to SC/ST corporators too was the reason behind the delay.