Demolition of a watchdog

If the obvious reluctance of the state government in responding to the Ban-galore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) letter on whether it intends to extend the watchdogs tenure is any indication, it seems the BMTF may become history after March 31.Thats, unfortunately, how the BMTF

saga can be summed up.The dismal state of affairs does have its

share of reasons, or ruses if you may, as to why the BJP dispensation is making every effort to undermine the activities of the high-profile watchdog.One of the exigent reasons for this is

BMTF chief Rajvir P Sharmas exuberance in booking cases not only against engi-neers of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahana-gara Palike (BBMP) and officials of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), but also prominent politicians including minister for law and parliamentary affairs Suresh Kumar, deputy chief minister R Ashoka, mayor D Venkatesh Murthy, commissioner Siddaiah, officials like Bharat Lal Meena and Pradeep Singh Kharola. Sharma made powerful and in-fluential enemies.As head of the task force, BMTF chief

Sharma was supposed to discharge his duties to protect government land. But, his utter contempt and disregard for politicians, who otherwise were project-ed as clean and sincere, irked the state government into action.Sharmas proactive attitude even made

former mayors gang up against him and make allegations of violation of building bylaws while constructing a huge build-ing near Doddagubbi. Four former may-orsHuchappa, Ramachandrappa, Ramesh and Lakkannahave been vocal in their criticism of the BMTF. They never let go of an opportunity to castigate or even malign Sharma. Once, they issued a press release accusing Sharma of violat-ing building bylaws. They alleged that Sharma had constructed a huge building at Doddagubbi without permission from the civic authorities. They even asked the BDA whether it had sanctioned the build-ing plan.The tussle between the BMTF and em-

ployees of the BBMP began when the then palike commissioner Siddaiah handed over the investigation of the multi-crore bogus bill scam of three divisionsRaja-rajeshwarinagar, Gandhinagar and Malleswaramwhich was detected by the Technical Vigilance Cell under the com-missioner to the BMTF.Sharmas announcement that he was

willing to probe irregularities in all divi-sions of the BBMP created ripples among

corporators, legislators from Bangalore city and BBMP engineers. His bold action against Gandhinagar division assistant executive engineer Irudaya Vendan struck fear in the hearts of BBMP employees. It provoked Gangabyraiah corporator of Dr Rajkumar ward to release docu-ments that sought to prove that Sharma had violated building bylaws. Most cor-porators supported Gangabyraiah.By and by, the government started

tackling the BMTF by ignoring it. The other example of the state governments negligence of the BMTF was its failure to release funds for the refurbishing of the office allotted on the premises of Shanti-nagar Bus Stand. There are a few vacan-cies to be filled up at the BMTF. With the available human resources, we could not expedite investigation of pending cases. We do not want to remain on the BBMP HQ premises. But the government is yet to sanction funds for the shifting, says Sharma.The other way of handling the BMTF is

not to give it more powers. The state gov-ernment has still not responded to the BMTF chiefs suggestion of amalgamating three task forces - BDA, revenue and ur-baninto a single unit. I wrote to the government suggesting the amalgama-tion of the three task forces. This process will enable the investigating agencies to complete investigations quickly. I sent the proposal in March 2012, but till now the authorities concerned have not bothered even to organise a meeting with the rev-enue, urban and BDA officials, rues Shar-ma.The BMTF found itself in the eye of an-

other storm with its website meant to receive complaints from people becom-ing defunct for a few days. If one tried to access the website www.bmtf.gov.in, the internet browser would flash Server Er-ror 403 - Forbidden. The website had received tremendous response from the people, who had started informing the task force about a wide range of issues they thought come under it, such as bad roads, illegal constructions, building vio-lations and garbage clearance.Pursuing the complaints aggressively,

the BMTF slapped cases against erring of-ficials under various sections of Indian Penal Code when the accused officers did not respond to the task forces showcause notices. Cases soon began piling up against the errant.In 2012, the BMTF registered 208 cases

and arrested 62 persons. It summoned 310 persons and interrogated over 200. As many as 372 accused in these cases sought bail. The BMTF received 642 online com-plaints, of which 422 were disposed of and enquiry was on in 220. The BMTF, which was set up in 1996, had registered only 32 cases till 2011 (1996-2011). The white el-ephant had finally become a vigilant watchdog under Sharma.Performances create their own detrac-

tors. Therefore, the BMTF office and the police station on the BBMP premises came to be considered as untouchable by both staff and contractors. BMTF employ-ees complain of being alienated. One can imagine the plight of BMTF staff when corporators and employees shout slogans from the platform just next to the BMTF police station, demanding that they be removed from the BBMP premises.As of now, Sharma is waging a lonely

battle, and the odds are stacked heavily against him. But by sealing his fate, the government would also be sealing the fate of transparency in the state. One just has to wait till March 31.

y.reddy@dnaindia.net

THE STRUCTUREThe Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force is headed by an Additional Director-General of Police with the following supporting staff.

n Administrative section l Additional commissioner

l Revenue officer

l Section superintendent & support staff

n Police section l Superintendent of police

l Deputy superintendent of police

l Inspector of police

l Sub-inspector of police

l Police head constables and constables

n Town Planning Section l Deputy director of town planning

l Town planner

Demolition of encroachments by BMTF Anantha Subramanyam K

In its first 15 years, the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force had registered only 32 cases. But under high-profile chief RP Sharma, the BMTF registered 208 cases last year alone. Little wonder the government wants it to die a lonely death, says Y Maheswara Reddy