Bangalore: The Bangalore civic body has spent Rs 40 lakh in filling potholes but the money seems to have gone down the drain. An RTI query reveals that 200 CCTV cameras that were ordered to keep a watch on the city's roads haven't been installed.
The civic body's plan to combat garbage and potholes by issuing cameras to ward officers has run into trouble. Money has been spent, but there is no trace of the cameras and now critics are alleging corruption.
Bangalore has been struggling with potholes and uncollected garbage. Under pressure the city civic body had come up with the idea to issue ward level officers with digital cameras, so that they can click photos of potholes and un-cleared garbage and alert head office. But the plan hasn't worked.
The civic body says 198 wards were issued cameras worth 20,000 each. But RTI queries show not even one ward has received possession of the cameras
"Most probably they are kept in their homes. This is a big scam, 198 cameras, each camera costs about Rs 15,000 to 20,000. Actually the officers know about it but they are not mentioning it," said RTI activist S Venkatratanaiah.
Bangalore city mayor though refutes the charges of corruption. "It has not been implemented yet. There is no scam. There has been a change of commissioners in the city and there has been a lot of procedural delays," said Bangalore Mayor D Venkatesh Murthy.
Nearly Rs 40 lakh were allotted to purchase the cameras, but it seems that though the potholes and garbage haven't vanished, the cameras clearly seems to have disappeared.
Comments
0 comment