Another headache for Karnataka govt: Bengaluru contractors stop work, warn of protests over pending bills

In fresh trouble for Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the Bengaluru civic body contractors have stopped construction works and warned of protests over pending bills. 

Earlier today, BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) Contractor Association President Manjunath met Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot and requested his intervention. "The contractors are not being paid. This is why we had a meeting with the Governor. We have made a humble request and given him all the details," Manjunath said. 

The association president further said that the BBMP has Rs 2,000 crore in its account. "It is not releasing the payments. We want the immediate release," he said, adding that the payments of 26 months are pending. He also demanded immediate release of the payment or else he said the contractors will start protests. He also said that the contractors have stopped all work in the state.

Soon after the delegation met the Governor, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar suggested corruption while completing the work and said the government has to check the quality of work before clearing the bill. "There is a method for it," Shivakumar said on clearing the pending payments. "We have to see the quality of work. Bills have been submitted without doing any work...I want to know which engineer visited when."

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According to News9, a BBMP contractor has claimed that Shivakumar had demanded a bribe to clear pending bills. The report said that a contractor named Hemant made serious allegations against Shivakumar without naming him. "Their children are opening malls, you don't our children to live? Why you are afraid of making a statement against them?...Let him (Shivakumar) come and promise in Ajjayya temple that he has not demanded money to clear our bills," Hemant said in a viral video as per News9.

The report also said that Hemant told contractors' association president KT Manjunath that he has to get Rs 94 crore for work done. "Why are you silent? You are saying Tushar Giri Nath (BBMP Commissioner) is not clearing the bills, all these days he was clearing our bills but on whose orders he has stopped it, you should speak on it," he said. 

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In May this year, just weeks after coming back to power, Siddaramaiah ordered to stop the release of funds to any orders given by the BJP government in any department including boards and corporations, according to the news agency ANI. The chief minister also ordered to stop all the pending works which had not started by then. 

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