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ED raids Bengaluru civic body’s office in borewell and reverse osmosis scam case

Former BJP councillor N R Ramesh has alleged that Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike officials and contractors misappropriated Rs 400 crore between 2016 and 2019.

The BBMP claimed to have drilled 8,422 borewells and installed 697 reverse osmosis systems between 2016 and 2019 in 66 wards across the Bommanahalli, Dasarahalli, Mahadevapura, RR Nagar and Yelahanka zones. (File Image)

The Enforcement Directorate raided the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) head office as part of an investigation into the alleged borewell and reverse osmosis scam on Tuesday, sources in the civic body said.

The ED case is based on a complaint lodged with the Anti-Corruption Bureau in 2019 by former BJP councillor N R Ramesh. In 2022, the ED summoned Ramesh and recorded his statement. Ramesh said he had provided a 40-page statement to ED officials.

The allegations date back to 2016, when Rs 970 crore was sanctioned for the project. The BBMP claimed to have drilled 8,422 borewells and installed 697 reverse osmosis systems between 2016 and 2019 in 66 wards across the Bommanahalli, Dasarahalli, Mahadevapura, RR Nagar and Yelahanka zones. However, Ramesh alleged that only 20 per cent of the work was executed, while contractors submitted fraudulent bills for the remaining work.

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According to Ramesh, the scam involved over Rs 400 crore being misappropriated by BBMP officials and contractors. “We had conducted ground-level checks and recorded videos to expose the corruption in these 66 wards,” he added.

Sources within the BBMP confirmed that ED officials reviewed documents at the office of Engineer-in-Chief B S Prahlad and sought additional records from zonal offices. Officials from different zones are said to be cooperating with the investigation.

The ED raid is expected to continue for three days.

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