Halasuru Lake Residents’ Welfare Association accuses BBMP of palming off the association in deweeding Ulsoor Lake
Can a city corporation get into an unrealistic contract with a Residents’ Welfare Association and then nag it to fulfill those impractical obligations? Well, the BBMP has been doing just that.
Ask Halasuru Lake Residents’ Welfare Association (HLRWA). The organisation and United Way of Bengaluru (UWB) entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the BBMP regarding maintenance of Ulsoor Lake. In the MoU, the BBMP asked these bodies to take up work beyond their expertise and capacity. Now that they are unable to meet the unrealistic expectations, the BBMP is sending them legal notices, reminding them of their ‘obligation’.
The unsuspecting citizen bodies entered into the agreement, which came into effect on October 1 past year, but were bewildered to receive notices from the BBMP on January 18 and February 7 regarding what they thought was not their job.
According to the MoU, the task of removing weed from the lake is the HLRWA’s and the UWB’s responsibility. Advocate KS Periyaswamy, of Socio-Legal Clinic, says this clause of the MoU and the legal notices asking for its compliance are null and void. Explaining why, he said the BBMP does not have the legal authority to demand that any other organisation do the work it is supposed to do.
Meanwhile, officebearers of the HLRWA and the UWB are a worried lot. Suresh Nair, executive director of the UWB, said that as per the agreement, they have been cleaning the pathway, watering the plants and coordinating with the residents and the BBMP.
He said they, on an average, spend a lakh rupees a month towards maintaining the lake. He insists that they are doing their job and cleaning the water body is not one of it, still the BBMP is pushing them to do it.
HLRWA president V Purushotham said the BBMP is barking up the wrong tree as far as the maintenance of Ulsoor Lake is concerned. He said that according to the MoU, the Palike is supposed to ensure that sewage does not flow into the lake. He said a stormwater drain continues to bring sewage into the lake, making it impossible to keep it clean. Even as the root problem remains, he said the BBMP has been pumping money to remove silt from the sedimentary tank. That’s akin to treating the symptom and not the problem.
On top of it, Purushotham said the BBMP has awarded a contract of Rs22 lakh to a contractor to do exactly what the HLRWA has been doing anyway. He lamented that the Palike is wasting money for duplicate work. He said the HLRWA is doing its work properly and will complete it once the Palike cancels the costly contract it has entered into recently.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}