Karnataka High Court And Bengaluru Civic Body Pulls Up Officials For Shoddy Work

Following the instructions from Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) issued a show-cause notice to three engineers over sub-standard asphalting of a road near Dr BR Ambedkar School of Economics (BASE), which was laid just a few days back before PM Modi's visit to the city.

"The Asphalting work taken up for Mariyappanapalya main road in Bangalore University Campus is reported to be substandard work. There are visuals that the layer of asphalt is being removed by hand," the show-cause notice said.

"By observation of the visuals, it is felt that there is no Standard Operation Procedure followed in the execution of the above-said work. Therefore, show cause notice is hereby issued calling upon your explanation about the said issue along with the test reports and also why action should not be initiated for failing to execute the work as per Standard Operation Procedure and also failing to discharge your duties as Executive Engineer on site," it added, reports Livemint.

Also, Karnataka High Court (HC), while hearing a contempt petition against Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) officers, criticised civic officials for not following court orders and questioned whether the Bengaluru civic body needs the President or the PM to travel on city roads to make works done.

"Maybe the condition of roads will improve if the PM and President visit Bengaluru often. Last week you spent Rs 23 crore to fill potholes. The PM has to travel on different roads each time for you to do your duty?" the high court said.

The HC said this about reports that the city civic body, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), spent Rs 23 crore to repair roads in the city for the Prime Minister's recent visit.

HC made these remarks during a hearing related to the restoration of water and sewerage line connections to two houses in the city.

On October 21, 2020, a single-judge bench of the HC ordered the civic agencies to restore the connection to the two sites within two months and disposed of the case.

The petitioners approached the HC a year later with a contempt petition against the commissioners and concerned engineers of BDA and BWSSB as they did not follow the earlier HC order.

The officers had sought time before the division bench of Justice B Veerappa and Justice K S Hemalekha, who was hearing the contempt plea. Even the contempt plea has been pending since May 2021, but the BDA and BWSSB failed to follow the court order repeatedly.

(With inputs from PTI)