End to garbage menace in 6 months: Chief minister Siddaramaiah

Chief minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday assured that he would put an end to garbage menace in the city in 5-6 months.

Participating in a ‘Meet the Press’ programme organised by Bangalore Press Club and Bangalore Reporters’ Guild, he said that a series of review meetings had been held and the officers had promised to deliver to keep the city clean.

“I am conducting review meetings regularly to ensure this happens. There should not be any garbage heaps on road sides in the next five to six months. I have issued necessary instructions in this regard,” he said.

Promising to accord priority to improving infrastructure in the city, Siddaramaiah said providing drinking water would be the first priority of the government.

“The financial situation is bad and public agencies have taken huge amounts of loans. Keeping this in mind, the government will take cautious steps. Instead of asphalting roads, we are contemplating building concrete roads though the investment is more. The concrete road are long lasting without much cost on maintenance,” he explained.

“The city needs about 20TMC water, but the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal has not upheld our plea. We will put up a strong legal fight to get additional Cauvery water to Bangalore. The issue has been discussed with the advocates representing the case in Supreme Court to file a Special Review Petition seeking 20TMC of water for Bangalore, he said.

As for law and order situation in Bangalore, he maintained that two meetings have already been conducted with the senior police officers to curb illegal activities in bars and to contain goondaism and underworld activities.

 Siddaramaiah rubbished the allegations of the leader of the opposition HD Kumaraswamy that the Congress government is not allotting him a bungalow of his choice and car.

“Kumaraswamy wants a new car and we will provide him with one,” he said wryly.
“When I was opposition leader, I got my residence allotted only after six months, that too when the then minister Shobha Karandlaje had to resign due to infighting in BJP. I have increased the rent amount from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh, let Kumaraswamy rent a suitable house with this allowance,” he said.