Did BBMP violate rules to permit illegal laying of OFC cable?
- 28,000 km of illegal cables installed in the City and the government is cheated of over Rs 2,380 crore revenue
- BBMP officials are involved in the scam, they must be suspended and FIR filed against them
- This differences in BBMP records and public statements give rise to suspicion
FollowThe Navabharat Democratic Party has alleged that the BBMP has permitted illegal OFC to be laid in the City and misappropriated crores of rupees and a special committee must be formed to investigate into the fraud. Speaking at a press meet on Friday, Anil Shetty, the president of the party alleged that there are 28,000 km of illegal cables installed in the City and the government is cheated of over Rs 2,380 crore revenue. He alleged that the BBMP officials are involved in the scam and demanded that they must be suspended, reports Kannada Prabha.
It has come to light in 2016 that both officials and legislators were allegedly involved in illegal OFC installation. Earlier to this also there have been such instances. Hence a committee must be formed and investigations conducted and guilty punished, he urged.
In JP Nagar 2nd phase, Reliance Company was laying the cables illegally at midnight. When he inquired the workers did not have the required permission. He lodged a complaint at the local police station. Instead of taking action, the police let the man go scott-free, Shetty alleged.
The BBMP records state that in 2016-17, a total of 2105 km of cables were permitted with revenue of Rs 170 crore, in 2017-18, 861 km of cables were permitted procuring Rs 46 crore revenue. However, the BBMP engineers have given a public statement that in 2016-17, a total of 4000 km OFC was permitted getting revenue of Rs 320 crore and in 2017-18, total of 1200 km OFC was permitted with revenue of Rs 140 crore. This differences in records and public statements have given rise to suspicion and hence inquiry must be ordered into the misappropriation, Shetty urged.
