Divesting public health from BBMP "ill-conceived administrative fix"; govt draws criticism Karnataka government's recent proposal to relieve Bengaluru's civic body, BBMP, of public health duties was met with strong criticism. Bengaluru becoming hotbed of Covid Karnataka is reeling under the weight of the deadly second wave of COVID-19, which forced state-wide lockdown. Bengaluru is the biggest contributor to the daily COVID tally in the state, and new measures were taken to help ease the prevailing situation. Taking a cue from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)'s success in tackling the second wave of Covid, Karnataka issued directives last week to set up Ward Decentralised Triage and Emergency Response (DETER) Committees for Covid management in all 198 wards in Bengaluru based on the Mumbai model. But it appears the state government is mulling over making a U-turn on its decentralising plans.