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Salary of engineers will be withheld if BBMP goes slow in clearing encroachments, Karnataka HC warns civic body

The division bench warned the civic body that the court will order BBMP to withhold the wages of engineers if they do not show progress in removing the encroachments.

TN City Desk

Updated Oct 1, 2022, 17:01 IST

Karnataka High Court

Photo : IANS

Bengaluru: Expressing displeasure over slow progress in removing the stormwater drain encroachments in Bengaluru, the Karnataka High Court has warned Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) that the court may have to withhold the wages of its engineers who are responsible for the demolition drives. It also warned that an appropriate order will have to be issued against the Chief Commissioner of the BBMP.

"We find no satisfactory progress has been made in the removal of encroachments of SWDs. Mr. M. Lokesh, Chief Engineer (SWD) is directed to ensure that substantial progress is made in the removal of encroachments by October 25 and submit a status report. In case substantial progress is not made then appropriate orders shall be passed," a division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Alok Aradhe observed.

While hearing the petition related to encroachments earlier on September 16, the BMC informed the High Court that 602 of the total 2626 identified encroachments on stormwater drains are yet to be removed. However, since then, only 10 encroachments have been removed, the court was informed on Friday. The HC warned the civic officials after taking note of the slowness in removing illegal constructions.

The court also pulled up BBMP over the delay in filling the potholes. The city administration claimed that 221 potholes on major roads in the city have been filled using a hot mix and roads of the Mahadevpura zone (324 km) are being re-asphalted. It also informed the court that work on 427 km of roads has started. However, the bench observed that the report does not look satisfactory.

Meanwhile, the BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath has constituted an 11-member task force for filling potholes in the city under BBMP Chief Engineer B S Prahlad. Heads of all eight zones and the chief engineer of the BBMP’s project division have also been appointed as the members of the team who will identify and repair potholes based on the complaints raised under the ‘FixMyStreet’ software.

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