The wettest October and November in recent history left telltale signs on the city’s already crumbling infrastructure. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had sought help from the State Government after estimating loss to infrastructure to the tune of over ₹1,100 crore caused by the heavy rains.
The State government, however, has now dashed the hopes of the civic body, citing lack of funds. The BBMP had initially sought 4(g) exemption under the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act, 1999, to take up works it had deemed as “emergency” and ₹1,171.33 crore from the State Disaster Relief Fund.
In a letter to BBMP’s chief commissioner Gaurav Gupta, Urban Development Department’s Additional Chief Secretary Rakesh Singh, who is also the BBMP administrator in the absence of an elected council, pointed out that many of the works proposed to be taken up do not fall under the emergency category. Hence, he stated that the BBMP utilise its own resources to take up these works or carry the out under the recently-approved Amruth Nagarottana scheme.
He has also pointed out that many of the works proposed pertained to general maintenance and disaster management. These would, therefore, not be applicable under the SDRF, as per guidelines. The BBMP chief has been directed to submit another proposal with works that would be eligible for funding under SDRF.
Following the heavy rains, the civic body had estimated the extent of loss to major roads to be around ₹100 crore, ₹600 crore for ward roads, over ₹400 crore for stormwater drains, among others.
Confirming the development, Mr. Gupta told The Hindu that the government, on the basis of proposals received from different parts of the State, finalises allocation under SDRF. “The BBMP’s entire proposal has not been rejected, only some works have. The SDRF allotment has not yet been finalised,” he said and added that roadworks had begun in many places. The civic body, he said, would explore alternate funding mechanisms for the same.
