Bengaluru roads last asphalted 5 yrs ago

BENGALURU: Complains Narendra Kumar, an entrepreneur in Banasawadi: “I have to think twice before taking out my two or four wheeler on to the road as it adversely affects my vehicles as well as my body. The innumerable potholes and bad  roads, especially during the rainy season, make driving very difficult.”

He continued in irritated tones, “My car suffered damage when it got caught in a huge pothole. The pothole was filled with water and difficult to spot. When the motorists shell out such huge road tax, why should they be forced to commute on such bad roads?”.

For the last one-and-a-half year the state government and the BBMP have spent a whopping Rs. 300 crore for asphalting of arterial and sub-arterial roads to benefit motorists by helping them to commute smoothly.

But the money seems to have gone down the drain as the recently asphalted roads have opened up and cracked.

Arterial and sub-arterial roads at Banashankari, Indiranagar, Old Madras Road, Sarakki, Vijayanagar and other areas have developed ‘crater’-like potholes and in some areas the roads have washed away.

The recent rains have exposed the BBMP’s shoddy work. Besides, it also clearly shows the lack of co-ordination between different civic agencies, putting citizens to great inconvenience.

The BBMP has admitted that around 1.95 lakh sq. mts of the 1,954 km of arterial and sub-arterial roads in the city are in dire need of immediate attention by the civic body.

West of Chord Road, Hosakerehalli, Vijayanagar, Ittamadu, Padmanabhanagar main roads are some of the roads which need immediate attention as per the BBMP’s report.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, City in-charge minister Ramalinga Reddy said that roads were not asphalted for the last five years.

Over Rs. 300 crore has been spent on resurfacing and asphalting of roads across the city. Besides, some funds have been released under the Nagarothana scheme.

However, he said that he has directed the BBMP to fill all the potholes and repair bad stretches of road. Some of the roads have been damaged at newly added areas.

Besides, many utilities run beneath roads including Optical Fibre Cable (OFC). Asphalted roads dug up for maintenance are the cause of  bad roads, he said.

An additional Rs. 200 crore will be released and by next monsoon the roads will be brought back to working  condition, he added.