Bengaluru floods: HC orders BBMP to set up residents' grievance cell in each ward
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday directed the city civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to immediately set up cells to address the grievances of citizens affected by the heavy rains and flood situation in several areas here.
The direction mandates setting up of a cell in each ward of Bengaluru.
Each cell will have an engineer who will attend to the grievance of the public. "The ward engineer in each ward shall be notified to deal with the grievance of residents," the court said.
The court also directed the BBMP to notify the establishment of a team of engineers for each ward who would hear the grievances of the residents and manage the "systematic water flow".
It also directed the civic agency to expedite such a proposal and obtain the state government's approval at the earliest.
The division bench of the court headed by Acting Chief Justice Alok Aradhe was hearing a public interest litigation about the alleged "poor management" of roads by the BBMP.
During the hearing, the BBMP advocate informed the court about the steps being taken to prevent flooding in the city. The court was told that all the lakes in Bengaluru will have sluice gates installed.
As an immediate measure, water is being drained out of flooded areas using pumps, the BBMP submitted.
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Assam to lift all cases against Koch Rajbongshis in Foreigners' Tribunals: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
Guwahati, Apr 4 (PTI): The Assam cabinet has decided to lift all cases pending against people from the Koch Rajbongshi community in the Foreigners' Tribunals, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.
They will also no longer carry the tag of 'D' or doubtful voters, he said.
''There are 28,000 cases pending in different Foreigners' Tribunals in the state against people of the community. The cabinet has taken a historic decision of lifting the cases with immediate effect,'' Sarma said at a press conference here after the cabinet meeting.
The government believes that the Koch Rajbongshis are an indigenous community of the state and they are an inextricable part of ''our social and cultural fabric'', he asserted.
The people of this community are poor and have suffered a lot over the years, he said.
''They will no longer carry the tag of foreigners or ‘D’ voters,'' the CM said.
Foreigners Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies, particularly in Assam, established to determine if a person residing in India is a "foreigner" as defined by the Foreigners Act of 1946, based on the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order of 1964.
These tribunals are designed to address matters related to citizenship and the presence of “foreigners” in India, specifically focusing on cases where someone is suspected of being an illegal immigrant.
There are 100 Foreigners’ Tribunals across Assam.
The Koch Rajbongshis have a sizeable presence in Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, and parts of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, and they demand Scheduled Tribe status.
