BMP puts bills on checklist

BMP puts bills on checklist
The Times of India

Bangalore: In a move aimed at tightening the administration and in turn coming down on the contractors, BMP commissioner K Jairaj has instructed authorities not to clear old bills unless a quality inspection of the works is carried out.
In the future too, the same exercise will be continued before clearing the contractors’ bills.

Jairaj has constituted 10 teams to review the old bills and conduct work inspections. The team has been asked to review the old bills before May end, complete the inspection work of pavements, roads and drains and submit a report before June 5.

Sample this: “hale kallu, hosa billu (old stone, new bill),” is the famous saying in BMP circles which sums up the work undertaken. This means, the contractors use old slabs for laying pavements after polishing them, relay the same, but produce fresh bills and claim hefty money.

The BMP is rocked with many scams where bills were cleared even as the works were not carried out. For instance: contractors, colluding with the engineers had claimed money amounting to more than Rs 60 lakh for works that had not been carried out. This scam came to light and a Lok Ayukta inquiry indicted three engineers who were found guilty of colluding with the contractors and swindling the money.

Though the BMP harped on third party inspection and work audit when the road cutting work was criticised as shoddy, the concept didn’t last long