BENGALURU: The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has suspended BBMP executive engineer (Electrical) H.V. Ramesh for alleged dereliction of duty in maintaining streetlights on a key city road.
During an inspection by Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on August 28, officials found that 140 of the 222 streetlights between Hudson Circle and Chalukya Circle were not functioning.
The minister had earlier held two meetings and directed officials and contractors to fix streetlight-related issues. However, the problem persisted despite repeated instructions.
The GBA issued a show-cause notice to Ramesh on August 31. In his response, he claimed most of the lights had been repaired and only 10-15 remained non-functional due to trees or damage.
However, the inspection found that only 82 of the 222 lights were working, prompting the authority to term his explanation misleading.
The contractor responsible for streetlight maintenance, Eflyium Pvt Ltd, has also been served several notices over poor performance. The firm was fined ₹1 lakh on August 31.
The GBA said Ramesh, who was responsible for supervising the work, had committed serious lapses in duty. His suspension will remain in force until completion of the departmental inquiry.
