BBMP: Opposition smells Rs 20,000-crore scam

BANGALORE: Opposition leader M Uday Shankar demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry in all the 28 constituencies under the BBMP. Addressing the media here, he said, “The scams in three constituencies- Gandhinagar, Rajarajeshwarinagar and Malleswaram are estimated to be Rs 1,539 crore. We suspect a scam of more than Rs 20,000 crore in the remaining 25 constituencies. All the 28 constituencies and 198 wards under the BBMP must be probed. It is confirmed from the reports of Chief Auditing Officers that  misappropriations have taken place between 2009-10 by the Chief Accountant Officers. They have exceeded the budget by Rs 2,184.18 crore by giving work codes to projects. No action has been taken in this regard even after many years.”“When we asked the BBMP officials to show the documents pertaining to the construction of underpasses, they claimed there were no documents on where the money was spent. If they cannot protect a document, how can we believe that they can preserve documents of multi-crore scam,” he questioned.Gandhinagar Constituency MLA Dinesh Gundu Rao said “How can the BBMP Accounts department settle money for bills with duplicate work codes? Investigation must be carried out on Accounts department and that should not be restricted to lower hierarchy”.