JOIN US Upa Lokayukta Justice S B Majage, during his surprise ‘inspection’ on Saturday, exposed irregularities in the Town Planning wing of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
Justice Majage, who was upset with the poor functioning of the department, said he was surprised to find the entire office staff ‘missing’.
“Not even a peon, let alone the higher officials, was present in the office,” Justice Majage told Deccan Herald.
When the peon and other staff came rushing to the office, Justice Majage and his team were going through the files. They noticed that since April 1, 2013, the department received 204 applications for building plan approval, of which only 14 cases were dealt with.
‘Doubts raised’
“Even these 14 applications were taken up randomly without any valid reason, which raises doubts,” he added.
Following the inspection, Justice Majage has taken a suo motu action, seeking a detailed report from the Town Planning officials on why the cases were not attended to and the officials involved.
He also visited the office of the chief accounts officer of the Palike, which was locked and no officer was present.
When contacted, BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana said he would look into Justice Majage's observations about the Town Planning department.