A new policy on protecting assets in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits and to also generate revenue from them will soon be framed by the Karnataka government, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar announced on Thursday.
He was replying to a starred question by Govindaraju on what steps have been taken to utilise the corporation’s assets in Bengaluru in the Legislative Council.
Mr. Shivakumar said that this was pending because of various technical issues. Marriage halls, educational institutions, and temples had been built on land belonging to the corporation, he said.
OTS option
“Considering the complexity of the issue, we are contemplating a separate set of rules through a new policy to address the issue. There are cases wherein very low rent is being paid and it involves arriving at a one-time settlement (OTS) to ensure revenue generation for the BBMP. We cannot take back the land where temples have been built and we are contemplating giving it to them taking into account the guidance value,” he said.
The Deputy Chief Minister said the policy was in its final stages and very soon it would be announced after due consultation with experts to resolve any technical issues.
Mr. Govindaraju had sought to know why the BBMP was paying rent for its offices despite having its own assets that could generate roughly around ₹600 crore annually. He also sought to know what action had been taken to clear encroachments from the BBMP assets.
Waste management
To another question, Mr. Shivakumar said efforts were on to find a permanent solution to the issue of solid waste management in the BBMP limits and there were plans to come up with four big waste-to-energy projects in the BBMP jurisdiction.
Replying to the starred question of Keshav Prasad S. and H.S. Gopinath on the solid waste management problems in the BBMP limits, Mr. Shivakumar said that all governments had failed to resolve the issue because of the “garbage mafia.”
Mr. Shivakumar said that waste-to-energy projects of small nature were inadequate to address the issue and several of them had failed in the last couple of years. “I have visited some projects in Hyderabad and Chennai and other places and we are planning to establish four big waste energy projects for addressing the garbage disposal issue. We are also looking for land in a radius of 15 kms for the purpose,” he said.
Big mafia
The Deputy Chief Minister said that the contractors involved in solid waste management had formed a cartel and had also employed blackmailing tactics to get their funds released. “Already we have held discussion with the Bengaluru legislators on the issue and they have all agreed to finding a permanent solution to tackle the garbage mafia. It has been found that only waste-to-energy projects with investment up to ₹ 2,000 crore can sustain. Soon after finalizing the plan, tenders will be floated,” he said.
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