JOIN USA trash saga that's worthy of pulp fiction
This one is a strange-but-true element in BBMP’s scheme of things.
The Palike uses vehicles registered under non-transport category (as two-wheelers, buses and cars) for transporting tonnes of garbage to landfills, almost 30 km away from the City.
But, the payments made on these vehicles are fictitious.
Such irregularities and other damning facts are part of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on local bodies, including BBMP’s solid waste management (SWM), which was tabled in the Legislative Council on Monday.
In the report, the CAG has termed BBMP’s garbage disposal mechanism directionless and pointed to pilferage of funds meant for SWM.
The CAG’s performance audit of SWM in Palike observed the absence of a notified policy, resulting in lack of direction for effective management and scientific disposal of waste.
The report said: “Absence of reliable and complete data about quantum of waste generated in City, not preparing a contingency plan and inadequate institutional mechanism rendered waste management programmes ineffective.
Consequently, the main objectives of minimising the burden on landfills, as envisaged in Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Rules, and prevention of environmental degradation were not achieved.”
The audit agency said that inadequate operational controls resulted in weak financial management, leading to unfruitful and excess expenditure and diversion of funds.“The BBMP had lost an assistance of Rs 280.17 crore due to delay in preparation of master plan. It was seen that 17 vehicles used in BBMP West Zone for transportation of MSW were registered as non-transport vehicles (two wheelers, four-wheelers, buses) etc. As a result, payments of Rs 88.95 lakh made on these vehicles during 2008-13 were fictitious,” says the CAG report.
It found that adequate efforts to mobilise revenue resources through user charges were not made to meet the costs of waste management. Cases of improprieties in contract management of works relating to waste management, wherein payment of Rs 630.28 crore was made to contractors for packages and additional works, were also observed.
The CAG noted: “Expenditure figures reported to the High Court were at variance with those furnished to audit. The differences in the test-checked zones aggregated to Rs 246.69 crore for the years 2009-13. There was mismatch in the utilisation of funds, noted the CAG. It said that overall release of funds during 2008-13 was Rs 1,108.48 crore, whereas the break-up of releases to SWM divisions and zones of the BBMP aggregated to Rs 998.11 crore, leaving a difference of Rs 110.37 crore.
The Palike released Rs 627.06 crore to four test-checked zones during 2008-13, whereas the figures furnished by Assistant Controller of Finance of these zones aggregated to Rs 662.89 crore. The difference of Rs 35.83 crore was not reconciled.The CAG report highlights that the BBMP wards in three test-checked zones had spent Rs 6.8 crore from 2010-13 on purchase of cleaning materials, against the maximum permissible limit of Rs 2.05 crore.