Bengaluru: Senior
IAS officer M. Lakshminarayana, who served as a secretary to three
previous chief ministers, was appointed on Thursday as BBMP
commissioner. The incumbent, Siddaiah, will retire on Friday.

After
the new Congress government took charge, Lakshminarayana was moved out
of the chief minister’s office to the urban development department as
principal secretary. He has been transferred again to the prestigious
BBMP commissioner’s post.

A 1987-batch IAS officer,
Lakshminarayana has to tackle the crumbling infrastructure and
rain-related woes in the city. Siddaiah took charge as BBMP commissioner
for the second time with six months of his tenure remaining when the
garbage problem was at its peak.

Siddaiah
carried forward from his predecessor Rajneesh Goel, who was
instrumental in getting the garbage by-law formulated. Soon after
assuming charge, Siddaiah held a series of talks with protesting farmers
from Mandur, Lakshmipura, Bingipura and other places and promised them
that dumping of garbage near their villages would be stopped. He sought
their cooperation till other waste processing units were set up.

Lakshmin­arayana,
who is from Bengaluru, has served in various capacities. He will take
charge from Siddaiah on Friday. The government has also appointed T.M.
Vijay Bhaskar as principal secretary, rural development and
panchayatraj, Dr E.V. Ramana Reddy as principal secretary, housing
department, P.N. Sreenivasachary as principal secretary, urban
development department and Dr Suresh Kunhi Mohammed as mission director,
National Rural Health Mission.