Bid to conserve water: BBMP, BDA will soon have to use treated water in parks

Civic Issues

KSPCB officials said that the decision was made as both BBMP and BDA are using tanker water from borewells for public parks they manage.

TNM Staff

With summer fast approaching, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has decided that the Bengaluru civic body, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) must use treated water from STPs in public parks managed by them. KSPCB officials said that the decision was made as both BBMP and BDA are using tanker water from borewells for public parks they manage and the new move is to help conserve underground water. “Last week, we had a board meeting and we realised that underground water is being used to water plants at public parks and also the trees and saplings that have been planted along the roads and pavements. This is drawing out a lot of underground water. During summer months, this can become problematic,” the KSPCB official said. KSPCB officials said that notices would be issued to BBMP and BDA this week, after which the rule would be implemented. "We are asking them to implement it without delay," the official said.  KSPCB officials further said that the move is being made after water scarcity issues cropped up in the suburban areas of Bengaluru in the summer of 2019. They added that the residents had complained of having to pay huge amounts for tanker water services. Currently, there are 3,961 apartments in Bengaluru that have Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs). In addition, the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has 27 STPs, where a large chunk of the treated water is not being utilized at all, KSPCB officials said. BWSSB figures state that 1,112 MLD of treated water is being produced at the 27 STPs across Bengaluru, out of which only 315 MLD of water is being sold for construction purposes. BWSSB officials said that around 10 tankers of treated water are being sold daily and this is resulting in a large portion of the water being let out into the storm water drains. Data from BWSSB shows that there are 8,550 borewells in Bengaluru that have been dug after obtaining permission from the BWSSB. Of these, around 7,900 are functional. “These are only the approved borewells. In areas like Bellandur, Mahadevapura and Sarjapur, there are many people who have dug borewells illegally. There are about 1 lakh illegal borewells in Bengaluru and it is important to conserve groundwater, at least until BWSSB can ensure there is Cauvery water supply for all homes in BBMP limits,” the official said. KSPBC officials said that a lot of the treated water is getting wasted as many people constructing homes and commercial buildings are not following the rules and are using a lot of ground water. “In order to ensure that the treated water doesn’t get wasted and also ensure that ground water levels don’t get depleted, we have decided to make it mandatory for BBMP and BDA to use treated water only for watering plants and trees on the roadside and also managing parks and public spaces. There is also a need to monitor those private entities that are not using treated water for construction activity,” the KSPCB official added.     

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Power tariff hikes in Bengaluru: Bescom making people pay more for its incompetence?

Civic issues

The Bescom has various structural problems which it has no will to improve, and is indiscriminately increasing power costs to put the onus on consumers.

Alithea Stephanie Mounika

The Bangalore Political Action Committee (BPAC) have submitted a report to the Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) opposing the electricity tariff hike that was recently proposed in January. The report was submitted during the public consultation held on February 7. BPAC alleged that the real reason for Bescom increasing the tariff was not even directly connected to household consumers. Though Bescom has claimed that a huge revenue deficit of Rs 5,872 crore was the reason for the tariff hike, BPAC's report says that Bescom is making people pay extra to cover up for it's own incompetency. “When they are slashing the prices of power in other places like Delhi, where is the need to have a price increase in Bengaluru?” asks Revathy Ashok, CEO of BPAC. Delhi residents have access to free power for the first 100 units, and Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi, announced in August that the free units would go up to 200 units. However, Bescom proposed an increase by Rs 1.96 per unit for 2021. This is an increase of 24% from the average cost in 2019 of Rs 7.84. This price of Rs 7.84 per unit is in itself a 15% increase from the approved rate of Rs 6.80 per unit, as given by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC). BPAC’s report looks at comparing performance and productivity in detail to look into reasons for such a huge deficit. They found that the problem was multi-fold. Power theft and distribution loss “Bengaluru has the highest transmission and distribution losses among the progressive states, at a loss of 16.42%. Other places like Delhi have a much less transmission and distribution loss, between 8.9 to 8 percent. Why is this? Because there is a large amount of power theft, and the Bescom does not have the will to follow it up. Why should the poor consumers pay huge electricity bills because of the Bescom’s incompetence?” Revathy asks. The KERC’s approved rate of transmission and distribution losses is set at 15.33%, however, the BPAC report states that Bescom routinely flouts it, with Bengaluru alone witnessing a loss of 16.42% of the total power distributed in 2019. “Bescom does not show interest in reducing these losses, which affects the price,” the report states. Outstanding dues not collected They study found that Bescom was not collecting its dues and that the agency has an average outstanding payment of 7.42 months. “When Bescom does not collect its dues, it incurs huge cash deficits for which they have to borrow and pay interest. They are trying to pass on this interest to the poor consumers, who struggle and pay their bills on time. Where is the justice in this? A large proportion of this pending collection is from government dues and government must bear the interest burden. This cost should not be passed on to consumers,” Revathy Ashok said. Agricultural consumption is disproportionate The report shows that there has been a huge increase in the number of water pump sets being used, and also in power consumption by the agricultural sector. According to the regulations, each farmer can have only one pump set. Karnataka has witnessed a drop in the gross irrigated area by eight% between 2016 and 2019. However, the report states that the consumption of power for agricultural activities has increased by 71% in this period. “Power for agricultural use is always subsidised due to political reasons, we do not object to farmers getting a subsidy. But fact is, farmers are not the true beneficiaries, and they continue to be in distress. Any power benefit to farmers must go as a direct benefit transfer, so there is no potential for leakage. All subsidies should also be borne by the government. Consumers should not and cannot be made to pay for this, through increased power tariffs.” Revathy says. Industrial users moving away from Bescom The report states that there has been a 7% decrease in the power units sold for industrial purposes, despite the increase in number of subscribers for high tension units. “This is because they are moving towards private energy exchanges, which give flexible and low rates of power, and they don’t have to rely on the fixed rates of Bescom. Bescom must reduce the rates for industrial consumers as it helps job creation. With Industrial users moving to private exchanges, consumers will end up paying more,” Revathy says.

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Ex-CEO of crisis-hit Guru Raghavendra Sahakara bank in Karnataka booked for cheating

Crime

The bank is in the middle of a crisis following huge non-performing assets and Reserve Bank of India imposed restrictions from collecting deposits, lending loans and making investments.

TNM Staff

A case of cheating and forgery has been registered against the former chief executive officer of crisis-hit Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank Limited in Bengaluru, weeks after RBI cap on withdrawal-limit triggered panic among depositors. According to police, the case has been registered based on a complaint by the present CEO officer A Santhosh Kumar against his predecessor Manur Vasudava Maiya. The bank is in the middle of a crisis following huge non-performing assets and Reserve Bank of India imposed restrictions from collecting deposits, lending loans and making investments. The apex bank had also last month capped the withdrawal limit to Rs 35,000. Santhosh Kumar stated in his complaint that between 2012 and 2018, Maiya had allegedly lent money beyond his jurisdiction to various customers. "We want stringent action against Maiya for conspiring and betraying the bank," he stated in his complaint. On January 10, the RBI imposed restrictions on Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank restricting withdrawals to a limit of Rs 35000 and directed the bank to not grant or renew any loans or advances. Worried customers of the bank gathered at the bank premises in Basavangudi when news of the RBI issuing the notice spread. However, the bank officials at the time had said that customers were assured that their deposits are safe. The bank had earlier stated that the RBI restrictions were a result of a default on Rs 350 crore worth of loans; however, the loans can be recovered by taking over the assets given as securities. The bank had stated that ATMs would function normally and that it would seek clarifications from the RBI as well. Many depositors likened the situation at the bank to the situation with the Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank. In September, RBI had imposed restrictions on the imposed regulatory restrictions on the PMC Bank limiting withdrawals to Rs 1000.  However, BJP MP from Bengaluru South, Tejasvi Surya had insisted that false equivalences should not be drawn by comparing the bank's present situation with that of PMC Bank. "This is nothing like PMC Bank. We will ensure that the interests of stakeholders will be protected. I urge friends in the media to not draw false equivalence with what is happening here with what happened at PMC Bank," Tejasvi Surya added.  With inputs from PTI    

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Nikhil Kumaraswamy engaged to former Cong min’s grandniece Revathi in Bengaluru

Wedding

There were reportedly about 6,000 guests who attended the ceremony.

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Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of HD Kumaraswamy, the former Chief Minister of Karnataka got engaged to Revathi alias Ruthu in a private ceremony in Bengaluru on Sunday. Revathi is the grand-niece of former Karnataka housing minister M Krishnappa. Nikhil Kumaraswamy entered politics in 2019 and contested from the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency and lost to Sumalatha Ambareesh. He is a film actor. The couple wore matching clothes in gold and cream colours. Revathi wore a light peach and cream saree, while Nikhil wore a sherwani. The engagement party was held at Taj West End near Bangalore Turf Club. The decorations at the venue were themed in white, with flowers being brought from all over Karnataka. They exchanged rose and jasmine garlands, and rings. Nikhil gave Revathi a diamond ring. The couple was blessed by their families and various leaders from political parties in Karnataka. There were reportedly about 6,000 guests who attended the ceremony. Those in attendance included former ministers DK Shivakumar, KJ George and G Parameshwara, M Krishnappa, IPS officer Alok Kumar, former DG and IG of Karnataka Neelamani Raju, JD(S) MLC Basavaraj Horatti, and actor Puneeth Rajkumar.   The cuisine at the event reportedly included at least 30 dishes from across the state, with nine different welcome drinks, 10 different side dishes and 14 types of main courses and seven types of dessert.  After DK Shivakumar got arrested last year for a money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate, DK Sivakumar and Deve Gowda’s family have become closer. They have been seen together in public several times, and this engagement ceremony was no exception.

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Three African nationals among 6 held for online kidney racket in Bengaluru

Crime

The accused had been running the kidney sale racket by using the names of prominent doctors in the city.

TNM Staff

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Six individuals living in Bengaluru were arrested in connection with an online kidney sales racket. The accused, including three African nationals, had been running the online racket by using the names of prominent doctors in the city. They were arrested by Banaswadi police on Saturday. According to reports, the gang approached individuals who were looking for an organ donor for a kidney transplant, as well as those who were willing to be donors in exchange for money. They would then collect registration fees from these individuals, which would amount to anywhere from Rs 40,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh. After receiving the token amount, the gang would cut off all communication with the individuals.The gang has reportedly swindled around 260 individuals using the same modus operandi. They had created a fake website which falsely claimed that they had the authorisation of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to run the business and had been using the name of a super specialty hospital in the city and the names of several well-known and reputed doctors. Police tracked down the accused after a complaint was filed by Dr Shafiq MM, director of the hospital. Following this, police were able to use the numbers the gang had published on their website to track down the culprits. The accused have been identified as Esene Lovely (29) from Nigeria, who was reportedly the “kingpin”, Mohamed Ahmed Ismail (24) and Marwan Faisal (27) who are both from Sudan, Herendra (25) and Jatin Kumar (25) from Tripura and Kami Ranjan (21) who is from Bengaluru’s Bommanahalli area. Several illegal kidney trafficking rackets have been identified and busted in the recent past. Last July, officials from Hyderabad had busted members of a kidney racket which functioned by contacting individuals who were selling their kidneys and duped them of lakhs of rupees.

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2 injured in separate accidents involving Bentley and Lamborghini in Bengaluru

Accidents

Investigations are currently underway in both cases, and no arrests have yet been made.

TNM Staff

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Two different car accidents in Bengaluru involving luxury cars Bentley and Lamborghini have caused two people to be injured and around five vehicles damaged. In the first incident, a Bentley which was speeding from Hebbal reportedly hit three vehicles under the Mekhri Circle underpass at around 2.30pm on Sunday. Two men, an engineer named Praful Kumar and an autorickshaw driver named Abdul sustained injuries in the accident. The driver of the Bentley fled from the spot after a crowd began to gather, abandoning the car. Praful and Abdul were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. According to TOI, DCP East (traffic division) M Narayan stated that the Bentley belongs to a private company. Representatives of the company have been asked to appear before police on Monday. Traffic police have seizedthe car. In another accident, a brand new Lamborghini car crashed into a police chowki at CTO Circle, right across from Cubbon Park Metro Station at around 5.15pm on Sunday. Speaking to TNM, a police official from Cubbon Park traffic police station said that investigations are underway and that a case has been registered under section 279 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for rash and negligent driving. In March 2019, a Bengaluru man died in a car accident while test driving a luxury model SUV. According to the police, 31-year-old Sagar was driving at a high speed when he hit a road divider which caused the car to topple over and land in a 10-metre deep ditch. He died on the way to the hospital. His wife, son, business partner and an associate from the car company were also in the vehicle and sustained injuries and were taken to a private hospital for treatment. According to the police, the airbag and use of seatbelts saved the lives of passengers who were sitting in the front.

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Chinese diplomat pushes back against coronavirus 'rumors' from GOP senator

Ambassador Cui Tiankai slammed comments from Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton.

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