Complaint filed against BBMP officials

Five landfill-sites were notified by the government, and notified a buffer zone of 1 km as no development zones

A private complaint was filed in the Lokayukta court today against Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner Rajneesh Goel and 11 other officials alleging irregularities in waste disposal in the city which has resulted in a huge loss to the state exchequer and burden to the tax payer.

Lokayukta court judge, N K Sudhindra Rao posted the complaint filed by former Mayor of then Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (which later became Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike), P R Ramesh, to December 3 for orders on probe.

The complainant stated that he had filed the complaint to unearth the illegalities indulged in by the BBMP Commissioner and other officials who are the “tender inviting authorities” and “accepting authorities”, as a result of which public money is being siphoned off by the private persons causing a “huge loss to the state exchequer and burden to the tax payer”.

 

The loss is not limited to one month or a year, it is a continuous one because of the illegality to reduce the buffer zone around the main landfill in Mavallipura, to face realtors in and around the area in clear violation of Municipal Solid Wastes (MSW) (Management and Handling) Rules 2000.

During 2004, Bangalore was spread over an area of 226 sq km and had a population of around 6 million and was generating 2,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day.

The then Bangalore Mahanagara Palike had undertaken the collection, transportation and disposal of municipal solid waste generated. It was also the obligation of BBMP to remove filth, rubbish, cleaning of streets and maintenance of establishment for removal of rubbish and filth under the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act.

Five landfill-sites were notified by the government and by order dated December 4, 2004, the government notified the buffer zone of one kilometre (1,000 metres) i.e. “no development zones” to prevent development around these areas.

On January 16, 2007, the government issued a notification to merge seven City Municipal Councils, one Town Municipal Council and 111 villages around the city to form a single administrative area with 100 wards of the erstwhile Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.

The body was renamed Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, with an increased area of over 800 sq km from 226 sq km earlier. The BBMP was demarcated into 198 wards.

With the increase in the city population to nearly 10 million, the municipal solid waste generated also increased to over 4,000 tonnes per day.

The complainant pointed out that by its order dated Oct 6, 2007, the government removed and decreased the buffer zone to 50 metres with conditions to facilitate realtors.

Reduction of buffer zone, improper management of landfills and not proper guidelines for disposal of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)in a scientific manner, and blatant violation of MSW Rules led to the mounting garbage problem in the city with widespread protests by the public. The complainant alleged that there were illegalities in the tenders invited by the BBMP for disposal of solid waste management, which were “against the Transparency Act and also aimed to help vested interests”.

Public participation which was the main criteria in the tender document when it was called initially, was replaced. Interestingly, it (the tender document) eliminated rag pickers but the income that was being earned by rag pickers was made to “go into the pockets of contractors as a result of which BBMP was put to financial loss”, the complainant alleged.

Of of the total waste generated of 4,000 tonnes, 30 per cent is dry waste which is nearly 1,200 tonnes and fetches more than '1 crore per day. “It is a loss to the BBMP as it could have been utilised better.”

Besides, Rajneesh Goel, the others named in the complaint are: Ananthaswamy, Chief Engineer Solid Waste Management, Amita Prasad, Principal Secretary, Urban Development, K Jypthiramalingam, then Chief Secretary, government of Karnataka and eight other officials who are executive and superintendent engineers.

The complainant has asked the court to take cognisance of the offence committed by the accused under the Prevention of Corruption Act and sought punishment for them under section Act and related provisions of the IPC.