Bengaluru: The Karnataka Government is all set to probe into allegations of irregularities in the works of Smart City project carried out in six cities of the state.
Urban Development Minister B S Suresh (Byrathi) ordered for an enquiry after he found shortcomings in many works carried out under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious project during a review of the project on Thursday.
He asked the department secretary to get an independent agency to look into all works carried out in six cities - Belagavi, Davanagere, Hubballi-Dharwad, Mangaluru, Shivamogga and Tumakuru - covered under the Smart City project and submit a report within three months.
Bengaluru is the seventh city that was selected for infrastructure upgradation under the project. The committee will have technical experts from universities and the Indian Institute of Science along with senior officials from the Urban Development and Public Works Departments.
The minister also expressed displeasure over spending most of the funds under the scheme on road, drainage and garden works and instructed officials to utilise the remaining funds for building permanent structures like smart schools, hospitals and libraries.
Around 20% of funds have been utilised for lake and garden developments and 36% of funds on road development while just 2% each on education and health and 8% each on information technology and transport which, he said, was not necessary.
The minister said that Rs 6,817 crore has been released for seven cities selected under the Smart City project since its start. Of which Rs 6,405 crore have already been spent. The project is expected to be completed in March 2025.
