Delhi diktat: Bommai to intensify city rounds

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT Bengaluru

With honchos of IT & BT companies taking to social media to highlight the crumbling infrastructure of Bengaluru, the BJP high command has asked Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to go on city rounds at least once or twice a week to take stock of the situation.

Last week, Biocon Chief Kiran Mazumdar Shaw had slammed elected representatives including MLAs, MPs and local bodies in her twitter account on the sad state of Sarjapur Road. She slammed everyone responsible for the mess without bothering about the consequences. This tweet came as a blessing in disguise for the opposition Congress Party to lambast the Bommai government, saying this was the effect of ‘commission business’ .

A few years ago, a foreign newspaper carried a story on the condition of roads in the ‘Silicon valley of India’ during the tenure of the BJP Government headed by B.S.Yediyurappa. Adverse twitter comments were there during the tenure of the previous Congress government headed by Siddaramaiah too but he overcame them by going on city rounds to review the progress of projects. Subsequently, he appointed his trusted lieutenant, K.J. George as Bengaluru Development Minister. Since then, no government has bothered to appoint a minister exclusively to look after the affairs of the state capital.

The portfolio had been held by the chief minister for various reasons.Now, Delhi BJP leaders are said to have told Bommai to go on surprise city rounds to monitor the progress of works and pull up the authorities concerned in case of inordinate delay.

On Tuesday, after seeing off President Ramnath Kovind at KIAL, the CM made a surprise visit to project sites and expressed his unhappiness over the snail’s pace progress of works. He asked officials of the departments concerned not only to depute some staff to project sites but also send him the weekly report on progress of work.

In fact, Bommai’s two earlier visits had kicked up a row as he hardly spent five to ten minutes at each project site and left after the photo session. Now, the CM has decided to go on surprise visits every week in different parts of the city to see for himself the progress of works. He is also holding a series of meetings pertaining to projects of Bengaluru with heads of various departments and seeking reports on the works.

Recently, former CM, S.M.Krishna had written a two-page letter to incumbent CM Bommai on the need to constitute a task force by inviting experts from various fields to seek their opinion on the improvement of infrastructure. Accordingly, the CM is learnt to have discussed with his cabinet colleagues the need to take bold steps. He has also told the BBMP top brass to implement orders issued for the improvement of infrastructure in Bengaluru.