Bangalore in filth, corporators off to see beautiful Kashmir

While the city has been reeling under piles of garbage for months with BBMP failing to find ways to scientifically dispose of waste, the standing committee members of the civic body are preparing for yet another ‘study’ tour by December. Members of some committees are going to Agra, Jaipur and different cities in Kashmir, including Amarnath—places that are typically covered by tour operators.

The standing committee members have been following the practice of visiting various cities in the country along with BBMP officials supposedly to gain a first-hand knowledge of the various projects and developmental activities that have been taken up by civic bodies in those places in order to emulate them and implement similar projects in Bangalore.

While the study tours are meant to help BBMP authorities implement developmental activities executed by its peers in other cities, the standing committee members have turned them into tourist trips. “The standing committee members will be accompanied by their families during the tour. While the corporators will be busy with their family members or relatives visiting various tourist spots and enjoying the ‘study’ tour, the poor officials will be sent to collect the details of various subjects,” said a BBMP official.

For the past two years, the BBMP had earmarked `12 lakh per year for study tour by each standing committee. But this year the amount has been reduced to `4 lakh for per standing committee. “Now each committee member will get around `30,000 only. But the reduction in the amount has not deterred the corporators from taking the tour with their families. Most committee members book flight tickets themselves and stay in five and seven star hotels with their families during the trip,” the official said and added that the expenditure for two corporators during a week-long tour would be around `1.5 lakh.

“Some officials are afraid to go to the study tour as a part of the expenses incurred by the corporators are eventually borne by the officials. After going through hard experiences during the tours over the last two years, the officials are now giving various reasons to the corporators to avoid the tours and escape from the hardship. But corporators are forcing the officials to accompany them,” the official said.

Wasting public money
Though members of BBMP’s 12 standing committees have been visiting various tourist spots in the name of studying developmental activities, they have failed to submit study reports to the BBMP after these trips. In the last two years neither the corporators nor the officials who accompanied them during tours submitted any study report to the BBMP. Yet the BBMP authorities have never questioned the corporators who have been wasting public money.

BBMP standing committee (education) former chairperson BV Ganesh said he did not go to any study tour during his term as chairman as he was busy with upgrading the educational system for BBMP schools and colleges. “In 1996, when Dr Ravindra was BBMP commissioner and J Huchappa was the chairperson of taxation and finance standing committee, we visited several cities. But after returning, we immediately submitted a study report to the commissioner and the mayor. The report was circulated among media persons and their suggestions were taken. Now the situation has changed. Some corporators are not at all interested in the development of the city,” he said.