Defunct wireless sets cast shadow on BBMP’s monsoon readiness

BENGALURU: Pre-monsoon showers have already been flooding roads and bringing down trees, hinting at the misery awaiting Bengalureans during monsoon. But with its information dissemination network in tatters, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) appears to be hopelessly out of sync.
Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun was at her wit’s end when she was told at a a recent rain management meeting that most of the walkie-talkie sets, a crucial link in exchanging information during contingencies, had gone kaput. The mayor took the officials to task over the sad state of affairs, despite the civic body having spent a lot on maintaining these devices.

According to a senior BBMP official, every year Rs 6.1 lakh is spent only on maintenance of the devices. “The last time we called for a tender to purchase walkie-talkie sets was in 2007. Since then, we are are trying to manage with the same old sets,” he explained.
A quick check with control room officials revealed each of the eight zones has at least 50 wireless devices, but only a handful of them are in working condition. Control room officials said most of the walkie-talkies are not functioning because of poor maintenance. Also, they aren’t being managed properly by senior officials, they added.
“While over half of these devices do not work properly, the rest are gathering dust at officials’ homes. The other big problem is that those who have quit their jobs haven’t returned their walkie-talkies,” a Bommanahalli zone official said.
No senior official was able to answer a query on the number of walkie-talkies with the civic body and how many of them were dysfunctional. “The list of walkie-talkies is not available as there are no proper records. It’s BBMP’s most ignored item,” said a source.