Bengaluru:

The Karnataka BJP on Wednesday hit out at the Siddaramaiah government after state Minister for Health Dinesh Gundu Rao approached the High Court against the “exorbitant” taxes charged by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

BJP Bengaluru Central District President Sapthagiri Gowda, speaking to reporters at the party headquarters here, said the fact that a state minister goes to court over the steep increase in taxes in Bengaluru shows the mirror to its government.

Minister Rao and his wife Tabassum Gundu Rao approached the court challenging the 16 types of taxes levied by the BBMP for approval of their building plan amounting to more than Rs 41 lakh.

On Tuesday, the court issued notices to the government agencies in this regard.

Mr Gowda said, “Since the Congress government came to power in Karnataka, it has been burdening the common people with taxes. Our party has been protesting and raising awareness almost daily.”

He pointed out that state Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao and his wife have filed a writ petition in court clearly reflecting the tax hike issue. “They have approached the BBMP to change the building plan, and they went to court after BBMP issued a notice to pay around Rs 45 to 50 lakh in taxes and cess,” he stated.

“If this is the situation for the Health Minister, what about the common people,” Mr Gowda asked. 

He criticised Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s initiative to build “Brand Bengaluru”, claiming that repeated tax hikes have been made in the process.

Pointing out the poor condition of roads, Mr Gowda claimed. “There is a deplorable state where potholes on roads are not being filled…In areas like Chickpet and Balepet in Gandhinagar, one has to search to find the roads. They have filled potholes only on some main roads and declared the city pothole-free, but this is far from the truth. The smaller roads are in a terrible condition,” 

“The ministers themselves have now become an example of the tax hike,” the BJP leader said.

He further criticised the lack of accessibility to the officials, saying, “If they had conducted the municipal elections, the common people would have had the opportunity to approach the corporators and officials. The public is facing a lot of hardship, and the burden of taxes is being placed upon them. The fact that even the ministers are turning to the courts is a clear reflection of the situation.” 

Minister Rao and his wife had approached the BBMP for approval of a building plan to construct a commercial complex over land they owned. The BBMP had issued a demand notice asking Minister Rao to pay fees under various sections. Justice Ashok S Kinagi issued notices to the BBMP, Urban Development Department, Parliamentary Affairs and Legislation Formation Department and asked them to submit objections to the petition.

The counsel for Minister Rao submitted that the issue of demand notice is illegal and Rao should be allowed by the BBMP to build a commercial structure on the land he owns without imposing taxes and fees for approval of the building plan.

The issue is likely to take a political turn as Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar is handling the Bengaluru Development and Town Planning department. Shivakumar is also the minister in charge for Bengaluru Urban District.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Instead of waiting for authorities to take action, students and techies in Bengaluru took matters into their own hands and came together to clean a dangerous stretch of Balagere Road. Notably, the slit buildup on the busy Balagere road between Kadubeesanahalli and Varthur made the road slippery for two-wheelers and hazardous for pedestrians. 

Frustrated by the situation, several IT engineers, college students and even schoolchildren, decided to step in. Pictures and videos of the cleaning drive that have surfaced on social media show several people donning gloves and removing the silt build-up on the road with cleaning tools. The citizens’ action comes after Bengaluru’s civic body, BBMP turned down multiple requests to clean the roads, citing a lack of funds.

See pictures and videos:

Clearing the way for the road side drains all by themselves. Roads are always flooded for little rain. Multiple requests to clean were turned down sighting no budget.#BalagereDemandsRoad#SaveMahadevapura@CMofKarnataka@DKShivakumar@0RRCA@WFRising@BPACofficialpic.twitter.com/QgnfeSAJy7

— NammaMahadevapura (@OurMahadevapura) June 23, 2024

The wonderful act of community service was praised by social media users. One user wrote, ”Techies in Bengaluru work for corporates during weekdays, earn, pay taxes, and spend their weekends  fixing BBMP’s neglected issues.”

Meanwhile, many also slammed the authorities for their inaction. A second user commented, ”This is shocking. Bangalore municipal bodies should be ashamed of themselves for harassing honest tax-paying citizens.”

A third stated, ”Just imagine how annoyed and irritated they must have been with the roadside dirt causing pollution that they took up the responsibility to clean it up instead of complaining.” A fourth added, ”Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar also reacted to the cleanliness drive and said that he has instructed BBMP officials to take immediate action to ensure the safety of residents.

He wrote on X, ”Sometimes some lessons turn out to be the best learnings, and taking a cue from the incident of Bengaluru residents cleaning Balagere Road, the concerned officials at BBMP have been personally instructed by me to take immediate action. The comfort and safety of our Bengaluru residents is of priority to us, and therefore BBMP has been also instructed to ensure that no such incident is ever repeated in the future.”