JOIN USAll irregularities that are said to have taken place in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will be probed by a retired judge of the High Court, Bengaluru Development Minister K J George said here on Friday.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is already probing into the scam in the Rajarajeshwari, Gandhinagar and Malleswaram divisions, which is said to run into Rs 1,530 crore.
Though there are about 3,000 cases in the scam, the CID is probing just 250 of them. In order to avoid any delay in the investigation, the government has decided to hold a judicial probe, he added.
The report submitted by a 10-member committee under senior IAS officer Rajendra Kumar Kataria has pointed to large-scale irregularities in other divisions as well.
This, too, would be probed, George said. A retired judge will be appointed shortly and a panel of three chief engineers will assist the judicial commission, he added.
Illegal public posters
The minister said the government would deal sternly with illegal public posters. Such posters not only spoil the beauty of Bengaluru, but also cause problems in keeping the City clean.
Posters of films and organisations can be displayed only at specified locations, he said and asked the police to check ugly display of posters.
Among the measures to address the garbage problem, the minister said, large trash bins will be kept at public places on an experimental basis to collect dry waste. If it helps in keeping the city clean, such bins will be kept across Bengaluru, he added.
Bad roads
On the bad condition of roads, George said that the filling of potholes and asphalting of roads would be taken up at a cost of Rs 1,100 crore from January onwards. Rs 275 crore has already been released to the Palike for emergency works, he announced.
The minister acknowledged that a garage had encroached on five acres of government land on Narendra Tent Road in HBR Layout. The Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) has been instructed to get it vacated. The land will be then used to build a residential school, park and houses for the poor.
He also instructed the officials to clear all encroachments on public land in his constituency Sarvagna Nagar.