Bengaluru
The Karnataka government constituted four special investigation teams (SITs) to probe projects sanctioned between 2019-20 and 2022-23 in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), and gave a slew of directions to the teams on the investigation, on August 5. The BJP was at the helm of the government of Karnataka between 2019-20 and 2022-23.
The teams were formed to investigate projects approved for solid waste management (team lead — Ujjwal Kumar Ghosh), road development (Amlan Aditya Biswas), storm water drain (P.C. Jaffar), and lake development (Vishal R.). Sources in the BBMP said that the probe has commenced.
The State Government set up these teams after receiving complaints about alleged irregularities like fake billing, violation of Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (KTPP) Act, poor quality of work, and impersonation.
The teams will not look into projects that are already under investigation. Regional Commissioner, Bengaluru division, Amlan Aditya Biswas was earlier ordered to probe the fake bill scam pertaining to projects in RR Nagar zone.
While the SITs for solid waste management and storm water drains have four members each, SITs for road development and lake development have six members each.
What will the SITs look into?
The SITs will examine whether the projects taken up in the last three years adhere to statutory compliances. For instance, projects related to storm water drain need permission from Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), and development near lakes should be approved by the Lake Development Authority.
The teams have been asked by the government to check whether BBMP, or Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML), followed KTPP Act and sought approval from the State Government in connection with waste collection contracts.
Sources in the BSWML say that some NGOs looted money in the guise of training ragpickers and running Dry Waste Collection Centres, which is likely to be unearthed during the investigation.
The SITs have been asked to check for violation of KTPP Act, handing out tenders to ineligible bidders, and unlawful relaxation of rules during evaluation of bids. All annual financial transactions submitted by contractors during the tender process will be examined by the SITs, besides looking into certificate of experience. Any transfer of funds from the government to accounts of individuals, who are not involved in the contract, will be probed.
The government has instructed the teams to check for spending exorbitant amount of money for maintenance despite huge amounts spent during execution of the work, and sanctioning of works which were unnecessary.
The SITs will examine whether proposals were altered, and inspect if sanctioned projects were executed correctly. The SIT will examine loss incurred, if any, to Town Planning Department while approving building plans for apartment complexes, commercial complexes, and others.
The loss incurred by the BBMP due to laying of Optical Fibre Cables without permission of the civic body will be probed.
The SITs will inspect all executed projects for quality.
A senior official in the BBMP said the investigations will be comprehensive.
