TimesView The issue of contractors using bogus bills to drain the Palike's coffers has dogged the agency for a long time. Transporting garbage in Ambassador cars — the allegation had earlier surfaced at a BBMP council meeting — is not only bizarre but also points to the rot in the waste management system. While the municipal body has taken several steps to bring in transparency like identifying auto-tippers and asking drivers to download GPS apps, clearly its directions are not being followed. Both the Palike and external agencies need to delve deeper to weed out ghost vehicles, end the alleged official-contractor nexus and blacklist errant contractors so that public money is not wasted. BENGALURU: Its efforts to weed out ghost garbage-tippers notwithstanding, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) seems to be plagued with contractors continuing to find ways to loot taxpayers. Recently, the Palike unearthed a bills scam worth Rs 1.5 crore after its inquiry found a garbage contractor trying to hoodwink the system.As per the inquiry, Venkatesh, contractor of JP Park ward and owner of Om SLV Constructions, had produced fake bills to claim Rs 1.5 crore from the BBMP for lifting and dumping of garbage between December 2016 and December 2017. He had submitted the bills to the Rajarajeshwari Nagar zone joint commissioner (JC). As the bills were signed by a retired officer, the authorities suspected a scam and ordered an inquiry, which also found that the garbage was transported in Ambassador cars and passenger autos.Garbage clearance in JP Park ward has been under the scanner for a while. Venkatesh’s firm had bagged the contract to clear garbage from December 2016 and as per the work order, SLV was obliged to lift waste with 21 auto-tippers and two compactors. However, barely three months after the contract was awarded, the BBMP began receiving complaints from residents against SLV.Despite a questionable reputation and complaints from residents, SLV continued to get work from the Palike. On November 30, 2017, a ward committee under the chairmanship of JP Park corporator Mamtha Vasudev recommended the same contractor’s name for garbage clearance. On December 30, 2017, fresh work orders were issued in favour of Om SLV Constructions. In January 2018, Mamtha wrote to the ward’s assistant executive engineer and superintendent engineer, asking them to entrust the firm with the work.The scam came to light after the assistant executive engineer suspected the contractor was not providing adequate number of auto-tippers and issued multiple notices to Venkatesh in January, February, March and April 2018. In one of the notices, the engineer even threatened to cancel the contract, but the file recommending termination of contract couldn’t be passed as the agency had paid the firm to clear garbage in advance.Eventually, an inspection on July 17, 2018 revealed that Venkatesh was using only two auto-tippers and 11 goods autos instead of the 21 tippers he was billing the Palike for. The inspection of vehicles was videographed and the assistant executive engineer terminated the work order. A complaint was filed with Yeshwantpur police on July 22, 2018.ACB too conducting probeRR Nagar MLA N Munirathna, under whose jurisdiction JP Park falls, had raised the issue of irregularities in garbage collection at the BBMP council meeting. On September 19, 2018, BBMP commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad requested the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to conduct an inquiry into the issue, apart from probing the alleged collusion of BBMP officials with corrupt contractors.Recently, Venkatesh was arrested for threatening the RR Nagar JC and a case was registered against him at Yeshwantpur police station under IPC sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (dishonestly inducing delivery of property).

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