The BBMP council, which met on Thursday, witnessed an uproar over misappropriation of funds in the horticulture wing.
The BBMP council, which met on Thursday, witnessed an uproar over misappropriation of funds in the horticulture wing. Leader of the opposition M Nagaraj demonstrated how the horticulture department was spending for an ornamental piece in a park (a gazebo, a structure with a roof where walkers can rest) almost as much as the slum board spends on a home for a poor family.
The debate began when leader of opposition M Nagaraj asked the officials to detail various aspects of park maintenance. Despite the hue and cry over the ‘scam’, the council failed to arrive at a decision about action to be taken against officials involved.
Nagaraj said that between 2007-08 and 2010-11, the horticulture department officials misused large sums of public money. “In three years, the horticulture department dug up 233 borewells in parks and reportedly spent Rs7.46 crore. It claims to have spent Rs3.20 lakh on each borewell. I do not know how the officials could claim the same rate for all borewells, regardless of depth,” he said.
Chain-link fencing was apparently done for 291 parks, at a cost of Rs32.02 crore. But many parks in core areas were already fenced, and all that was done was painting the old fences. Nagaraj said the horticulture department claimed to have constructed 145 watchman sheds in parks at a cost of Rs4.12 crore, spending Rs3 lakh per shed. It has also spent Rs4.41 crore for constructing 5,209 park benches, each costing about Rs8,500. In order to verify these rates, Nagaraj got Sharan Flooring to send him a quotation. They had mentioned Rs3,500 as the cost of one bench. “The officials have caused the Palike a loss of nearly Rs2.60 crore by approving excess amount for the benches. Similarly, they claimed to have spent Rs4,800 on each dustbin; the actual cost for one dustbin could not have been more than Rs1,500,” he said.
The BBMP spent Rs5.47 crore on 185 gazebos, spending Rs2.20 lakh on each. “The slum board has constructed hundreds of houses for the poor, each home costing about Rs3 lakh, he pointed out.
Nagaraj said the department had constructed 117 entrance plazas at Rs1.20 crore. “So each of the entrance units cost Rs1.21 lakh,” he fumed.
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