Bengaluru: Many corporators during the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Council meeting on Friday have expressed disappointment for keeping them in the dark on the developmental works, especially white-topping work in the city.
Padmanabha Reddy, leader of the Opposition, alleged that the government is ignoring the authority of the council.
He said the BBMP Council is supreme according to the 74th amendment. “All issues relating to development work should first be approved by the standing committee, then the council and finally the government. However, this is not happening, as the government is bypassing the council and the standing committees. This is illegal. Further, action plans regarding footpaths, flyovers and underpasses are not being discussed in the council and are instead being directly approved by the state government. If this is the case, then what is the role of the council?” he asked.
Replying to this, BBMP commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said that in the case of Nagarothana grants, where the funds were released by the state government, the BBMP had very little say in the matter. However, reiterating Reddy’s point, Imran Pasha, corporator for Padarayanapura ward, said that the council was being suppressed and that the spirit of the 74th amendment was being violated. He also warned that his party, the JD(S), would break its alliance with the Congress.
Nethra Narayan, JD(S) corporator of Kavalbyrasandra, then raised the issue of the fencing of 228.33 acres of land in her ward by the ministry of defence. She claimed a part of the land being fenced belonged to the BBMP.
