Garbage takes centre stage at Palike Council meet

Poor disposal of the garbage in the City has returned to haunt the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).   

Alleging that his ward is strewn with litter after the contractor has failed in performing his duties, Nandini Layout corporator M Nagaraj staged a dharna in the well of the House during the Council meeting on Tuesday.

Soon, a few corporators joined him. Chikpet corporator A L Shivakumar pointed out the poor garbage clearance in his ward. Jnanabharathi corporator Govindaraju alleged garbage has not been cleared from some areas in his ward for the last one year.

“Why the BBMP is releasing payments to the garbage contractors if the waste is not removed from the City?” asked Govindaraju.

Corporator Nazneen Begum complained that garbage is being dumped in the stormwater drain, blocking flow of water.

Replying to the allegations, BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana admitted that there were problems pertaining to the garbage clearance.

“There are problems with the 41 garbage contract packages, which deal with 93 wards of the City. I have directed the zonal-level joint commissioners to conduct inspection regularly,” he said.

Replying to a query by corporator Gunashekara, Mayor B S Sathyanarayana, said that the  Palike will construct at least one new toilet in the 198 wards under the Mayor’s Special Grants. The Palike would promote construction of toilets under the public-private partnership, he added.

Nagapura ward corporator S Harish alleged that the BBMP officials wasted public money to advertise tender notices in various newspapers. He claimed that the Palike has spent Rs 5.30 crore on advertisement during the period between July 2012 and June 2013. Add to it, Rs 52.43 lakh spent on publishing corrigendum to tender notices, he said.

Commercial status for PGs

The Palike will take steps to amend rules for considering paying guest accommodations in the City as commercial buildings. Mayor Sathyanarayana made the announcement in the meeting after the commissioner pointed out that at present the PG accommodations were being treated at tenanted residential buildings and the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Rules should be amended to treat them as commercial structures.