The Times of India 30.09.2010
BBMP buffeted by consultancy charges scam
BANGALORE: More money is being siphoned off than we can imagine. From April 2007 till date, BBMP spent a whopping Rs 1.68 crore on consultancy charges alone for remodelling of our storm water drains (SWD). This, when the civic body has its own special SWD wing of 45 engineers.
What's worse, BBMP forked out Rs 97 lakh as consultancy charges for asphalting one stretch of road, Rs 34 lakh for signal-free corridors and Rs 66 lakh on one NURM project. The list goes on, and on...
BBMP's huge expenditure on consultancy is baffling considering it has a large team of engineers -- 17 chief engineers, seven superintendent engineers, 101 executive engineers, 243 assistant EEs and 630 assistant engineers / junior engineers.
This shocking expenditure on almost 253 works was revealed by Nagapura corporator S Harish at the BBMP council on Wednesday. Assuring action on irregularities, BBMP commissioner Siddaiah said a core consultancy wing of BBMP engineers capable of designing projects will be formed soon.
Irregularities in BBMP's welfare schemes, particularly computer training programmes for the poor, was yet another alarming issue. This scheme was approved in 2003 as a three-year programme to train 60,000 under-privileged children. But, it has continued till date, with BBMP paying bills without any retendering or clarity on implementation.
The irregularities had mayor S K Nataraj forming yet another committee to look into the scam involving at least Rs 30 crore of BBMP money. The committee is headed by Pattabhiram Nagar corporator C K Ramamurthy with representatives from all sectors, including independents and women.
