BDA turns down BCC’s request to aid pending plans

BDA turns down BCC’s request to aid pending plans
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: When Chief Minister Dharam Singh assured better infrastructure in Bangalore forIT captains last month, little did he know that there was not a pie in Bangalore City Corporation’s (BCC) coffers to complete any of its projects.

The nearly bankrupt BCC is now eyeing the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to get some money to complete some of its projects. With over Rs. 1,650-crore cash component in addition to Rs. 900-crore initial deposits by the public for Arkavathy Layout in its coffers, the BDA was a natural choice for the BCC to get immediate relief and avoid a possible embarrassment.

In a letter by the BCC commissioner Jothiramalingam in the first week of this month to the BDA, he has requested Rs. 20 crore to complete the drinking water project. The work on providing Cauvery water to the newly added 27 wards has been stopped temporarily as the contractors have refused to take up works till their pending bills are cleared.

The BDA, however, promptly refused to oblige the BCC’s request and refused to give the money. ‘‘We have given it (the letter) a decent burial,’’ a senior official in the BDA told this website’s newspaper.

‘‘If we give the money to the BCC now, it will set a bad precedent. Other civic bodies and loss-making agencies will also start approaching us if we give the money to the BCC,’’ the officer maintained.

When contacted, a senior official in the BCC confirmed that they had approached the BDA seeking financial aid. ‘‘Since they have turned down the request, we have to see other ways of raising the funds to complete the project,’’ he said.

The Chief Minister, during his interaction with IT and industry captains had assured a better infrastructure for IT industry. He had even set a deadline for several of BCC’s projects running into a few hundred crores.