K’taka govt to constitute 8 task forces to monitor development work in Bengaluru & take decisions during emergency

PTI, May 20, 2022, 1:29 PM IST

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said a task force headed by a Minister will be constituted for all the eight zones in the city to monitor developmental work and to take necessary decisions in their respective jurisdictions whenever there is an emergency like heavy rains.

The Chief Minister along with MLAs and Ministers from the city and officials on Friday visited several rain-affected areas of K R Puram, Ramamurthy Nagar, and surrounding areas to assess the situation and gave necessary instructions.

Several areas were flooded and houses were inundated in many parts of the city following the torrential rain that lashed Bengaluru on Tuesday night and incessant rains thereafter. ”For each zone (under Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) we are forming a task force which will be headed by a Minister, while MLAs, MLCs, and MPs will be its members; it will also have engineers and joint commissioners,” Bommai said. Speaking to reporters here, he said, they will monitor development works and will have the power to take decisions whenever faced with emergencies due to heavy rains and floods.

”So eight task forces will be constituted for eight zones in the city today itself and under them, all the work will be managed. We have taken this important decision,” he added.

Meanwhile, taking a serious view, the Chief Minister has directed Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) Commissioner to immediately cancel the notification issued for the change of land use from water body to residential purposes, citing cartographic errors in the Revised Master Plan (RMP) 2015.

He also directed action on officers responsible for issuing this notification against the public interest, following which the BDA Commissioner has issued a cancellation order, and action on erring officers will follow forthwith.

”They (officials) said there was some cartographic error, I did not agree with it. These are all nonsense, so we have canceled the notification and there is no question of allowing any layouts in the notified lake area,” Bommai said commenting on the issue.