HC notice to State, BBMP on civil works

HC notice to State, BBMP on civil works
Bangalore, Dec 3, DHNS:

The High Court on Thursday ordered notices to Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP and the State government in a petition questioning notifications awarding civil works worth Rs 13,000 crore.


P R Ramesh and T Ramachandrappa, both former mayors and T Prabhakar, former chairman of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) had challenged the three notifications awarding about 50 civil works.

They contended that despite the order dated September 17 to announce the calendar of events for elections, the respondents had invited prequalification tenders for civil works worth Rs 12,773 crore violating the Transparency Act.

Norms violated

Alleging that the whole process has been done in a hurried manner in violation of statutory requirements, the petitioners have contended that the projects of such magnitude require a detailed project report to be placed before the Cabinet for approval, which the BBMP has not complied with.

The division bench comprising Chief Justice P D Dinakaran and Anand Byra Reddy has ordered notice to State government, BBMP, Special Commissioner, Projects and others.

Uneven distribution

A petition has been filed in the High Court challenging the uneven distribution of population in BBMP wards. The petitioner Venkatesh has said that while the minimum population is fixed at 20,000 and maximum at 30,000 according to Municipal Corporation Act- 1976, several wards like Kaveripuram (ward number: 103) has a list of 35,000 voters, which is an uneven distribution. The petitioner has sought directions to ensure equal distribution of population. Advocate General, Ashok Haranahalli said that all these errors have been set right. The division bench has clubbed the matter with the main petition.