Karnataka govt writes to ECI on preparations for Bengaluru civic body polls

Bengaluru, Aug 21 (IANS) Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Thursday said that the state government has written to the Election Commission about preparations for the Bengaluru civic body elections.

Replying to a question raised by JD (S) MLC Jawarayee Gowda T.N. in the Legislative Council about implementation of Greater Bengaluru Authority Act (GBA) 2024, the Dy CM said, “GBA came to effect from May 15 and five corporations were formed on July 19. We have allowed receipt of objections till August 18. Some areas have been included and some more need to be included at a later date.”

“The delimitation of wards will take place by November 1. This is being handled a separate team under the leadership of the BBMP Commissioner. We have submitted an affidavit to the court. We will issue a GO for delimitation of wards,” he said.

Replying to a member who urged the government to conduct elections early, the Dy CM said, “I completely agree the suggestion.”

Responding to a question from BJP MLC Keshava Prasad during Question Hour in the Legislative Council, Shivakumar said that 33 packages have been tendered for garbage disposal in Bengaluru. “We have called for tenders for 33 packages in 28 assembly constituencies. We have planned gas and power generation from garbage disposal at four places,” the Deputy CM said.

“We have acquired the land belonging to Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) for waste disposal. The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) approval was pending for waste disposal yard near Doddaballapur. We have got a Cabinet approval for the same. We are studying advanced technologies for waste disposal,” he said.

“It is not possible to break the garbage mafia of Bengaluru easily. The mafia did not allow the previous BJP led government also to call for tenders for 98 wards. I have also been fighting this. We have studied waste disposal models in Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai. Our past experiments with generation of power from waste haven’t been successful,” he said.

Replying to a question on garbage cess, the Deputy CM said: “It was the BJP led government in the state which introduced garbage cess in Karnataka in 2020 based on a 2016 order of the Union government. The Gazette notification states exorbitant taxes. We are collecting only 25 per cent of the suggested taxes as we felt it was too high.”

“We are planning to come out with a new law to ensure upkeep of vacant sites. We have made provision for the public to self-declare the amount of garbage they generate. We have instructed the police to take strict action against those who litter public places. CCTVs will be fixed at various places in the city and we have already called for a tender,” Shivakumar added.

--IANS

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