Proud of our Covid-19 work, says outgoing Bengaluru mayor

Completing almost a year as the mayor of Bengaluru, M Goutham Kumar’s term formally ended on Thursday. Serving as the 53rd mayor, Kumar said he was lucky indeed to have served the city for almost a year, especially during the pandemic situation.

CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH

Sharing his experiences with DH, Kumar said he is proud of several projects, besides a few leaving him disappointed. Excerpts from the interview:

Looking back, how have you discharged your duties as the mayor?

In the last one year, I feel I have discharged duties to the best of my abilities. I am happy that I could implement many projects. But a few things have left me unahppy, for instance, I was not able to beautify and develop 30 junctions across the city.

What was the most challenging and satisfying work in the last one year?

Taking everybody together during the pandemic situation was the most satisfying. We were much ahead of many city corporations in the country in creating awareness. Reclaiming of 10 acres of encroached land near Bannerghatta, worth Rs 600 crore, was also challenging and memorable.

The garbage issue has remained as it is and you have failed to take it to its logical end. Comments?

The garbage issue cannot be resolved overnight. I am disappointed that we could not implement the Indore model of garbage disposal. But as per the court order, we had to award the work based on the previous tender. We have issued 40 work orders and 69 letters of acceptance to the same contractors. I think the remaining work orders will be issued by the incoming administrator in a few days.

Did the BBMP fail to tackle the urban floods?

The urban floods are largely due to the shoddy work by the engineers. Encroachments around the rajakaluves are causing floods each time. I do not know if it was due to lack of interest or lack of knowledge among the officials. We had the complete plan of the SWD ready in 2016. The ambitious plan of building a retention wall along the SWD is still pending and we could not implement it due to the pandemic situation.

What is your take on the allegations on the misappropriation of funds for Covid work?

We (BBMP) were not aware of opening a Covid Care Centre at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre. The state had decided to open a 10,000-bedded CCC at BIEC. Yet, the new commissioner addressed some of the lapses that could have cost more and the project was pursued in the right spirit.