An unusual topic took centre stage at the council meeting of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Monday. Councillors representing various wards expressed concern about a rise in incidents of drug abuse, especially among youth, and sought intervention from the police to curb such incidents.
Almost every councillor expressed anxiety about rampant usage of ganja and other narcotics. Pipeline Road, Kammanahalli Road, Talaghattapura and K.R. Puram are some of the areas where councillors claim to have found prevalence of drug abuse. While ganja is the most prevalent drug, the councillors claim to have noticed an increase in usage of other substances, such as whiteners and over-the-counter medicines.
D. Munilakshmamma, councillor of Kammanahalli ward, was among those who flagged the issue. She said the menace had implications on the larger safety of residents.
R. Ramila, representing Kaveripura ward, added that substance abuse is becoming rampant in some areas in the city, including her ward.
Asking the police to increase patrolling in these areas, they suggested special monitoring of places in and around educational institutions.
Helpline
Responding to the councillors, DCP (Crime) Ram Nivas Sepat, who was present at the meeting, said the department had recently launched a toll-free number (1908) exclusively for registering drug abuse cases. "The department has registered more than 300 cases this year in this regard. This is thrice the number of such cases registered in the last two years," he said.
Encouraging people to call the number, he added that the identity of the whistle-blower would remain anonymous.
BBMP launches 'Fix My Street' app
In a bid to ensure speedy redressal of civic grievances, the BBMP has launched an app called ‘Fix My Street’. The app, which was rolled out on Monday, allows the user to register complaints under different categories, including potholes, garbage, street lights and other civic issues.
Once registered, the complainant will get an SMS alert and the engineer concerned will be intimated about the issue flagged.
While problems that can be resolved immediately have to be fixed within 24 hours, issues such as fixing potholes will have one week’s time.
The commissioner would be monitoring the progress of the registered complaints.