Irregularities include non-collection of advertisement reviews and approval of apartments on lakes and buffer zones: Anti-Corruption Bureau
Irregularities include non-collection of advertisement reviews and approval of apartments on lakes and buffer zones: Anti-Corruption Bureau
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), which last week carried out raids on the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), said that it has done a massive amount of work ranging from clearing and billing the transfer of development rights (TDR) to apartments on the lake land. Irregularities have been found. crores to the beneficiaries
ACB officials estimate that Rs 300 crore has not been collected by the BBMP for advertising revenue alone. A total of 33 BBMP offices were raided by 200 ACB officers. “The concerned civic authorities have not collected the advertisement tax from bus stands and skywalks and newly constructed bus stops under the PPP (Public Private Partnership) model,” ACB officials said.
The officials of the Town Planning Section allegedly committed massive irregularities in fixing the Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) and created fake records to claim TDR. In many cases, they sanctioned additional TDRs for several projects. “The officials also created fake documents to claim compensation for road widening projects. Even the Internal Vigilance Section headed by Engineer did not act on the report submitted to him regarding irregularities,” the ACB said.
The ACB claimed that the town planning authorities concerned had approved a building plan to build multi-storey apartments on the lake beds and buffer zone, and had also cleared land records submitted to them illegally. The seized documents showed that occupancy certificates have been issued to under-construction residential buildings across the city. A three-storey building plan was reportedly converted into a six-storey structure with no approval.
property tax revenue loss
The BBMP revenue department has reportedly prescribed minimum tax on residential buildings, multi-storey residential complexes and even commercial complexes and IT companies. The ACB said the old tax rates for newly constructed buildings and complexes have been fixed, causing revenue loss of several crores to the BBMP.
The officials also seized records relating to expenditure of ₹1,050 crore for various projects and siltation work, which had been awarded to only a few contractors since 2017.
The ACB said that in the solid waste management section, a bill of Rs 100 crore was generated and sanctioned to the beneficiaries, but no action was taken against the officer concerned.
Property tax of ₹15 crore collected during raids
While the Anti-Corruption Bureau was conducting raids and search operations, several private firms and individuals reached the office to clear their dues. “A total of ₹15 crore has been paid towards taxes in the last two days,” ACB officials said.