Bangalore: A ruling party councillor threw the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) Council into turmoil here on Thursday when he accused Mayor Mumtaz Begum of being involved in the construction of a structure adjacent to Garuda Mall. The Mayor suspended the corporator from the Council for a week.

During a debate on the construction taking place on BMP land next to Garuda Mall, J.J Nagar Councillor R. Keshavamurthy (Congress) alleged that the Mayor was involved in building the structure which had come up without the approval of the Council.

Amidst the ruckus that followed, the Mayor suspended Mr. Keshavamurthy for a week as he refused to apologise. The Opposition parties demanded a Corps of Detective inquiry into the construction.

The Mayor told presspersons that when she inspected the construction along with other leaders, she had ordered the work to be stopped as the builders had not obtained approval from the BMP.

The Mayor at first claimed that she did not know who was behind the construction but later said it was the promoters of Garuda Mall, Maverick Holdings and Investments.

However, BMP Commissioner K. Jairaj told presspersons that that the construction had been approved by the Project Management Group (PMG) of the BMP on April 30 last year.

The promoters had been sanctioned 1,56,000 sq.ft. of land (approximately 400 ft. X 400 ft.). Mr. Jairaj said that when the vacant land was handed over for the project, there was a shortage of 8,515 sq. ft. of land.

To make up for the shortage, the BMP quarters, adjacent to the site, was demolished. The land thus acquired turned out to be around 11,000 sq. ft. It was decided that the excess land of about 3,456 sq. ft. should be rented out to Garuda Mall at the rate of Rs. 23 per sq. ft. a month, he said. The BMP earns Rs. 3.75 crore as annual rent from Garuda Mall.

Mr. Jairaj said the proposal was sent to the State Government, which sent it back to the BMP stating that the civic body should handle the approvals required for the project.

The promoters had built an underground sewage treatment plant and erected steel projections without submitting a modified plan, he said.

Mr. Jairaj urged Infrastructure Development (Karnataka) Ltd. (IDECK) to carry out a detailed management and financial audit of Garuda Mall, a joint venture of Maverick Holdings and Investments and BMP.

Mahesh Deshpande, General Manager of Maverick Holdings and Investments said the BMP had issued a "partial occupancy certificate" to build a parking complex and the sewage treatment plant. This idea was recommended by the PMG and only obtaining permission for opening a restaurant remained, he said.

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