It is not only ordinary citizens who are tired of Bengaluru’s pothole-ridden roads. Complaining that there was a lack of coordination between various civic agencies, a BJP MLA in the city took his own party’s government to task over the condition of roads in and around the city during the Winter Session of the Karnataka Assembly on Tuesday, December 14.
Aravind Limbavali, the MLA of Mahadevapura constituency in Bengaluru, was speaking about the allocation of financial aid for developing villages around Bengaluru that fell in his constituency and said that there were inadequate funds. “Among the 110 villages, if any constituency has more number of villages, it is my constituency with 31 villages. I've been given very little funds…If you want to restore the roads and allocate just Rs 1,000 crore, it won't be enough. Rains have stopped and the roads must be restored in Bengaluru,” Aravind Limbavali said.
Further he lashed out at the lack of coordination between government bodies while laying and maintaining roads, that further worsens the situation. “Apart from this, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is putting in pipelines. Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) is also digging up roads. There is absolutely no coordination among them. Only if there is some coordination among them, will Bengaluru and its roads be spared. Everybody starting from social media users have been criticising. The government’s stand on the city must be told,” Limbavali added.
And it was not just one BJP MLA who questioned the state government over the terrible roads. Dasarahalli MLA R Manjunath of the JD(S) angrily questioned the delay in the sanction of funds for roadwork. Congress MLA from Byatarayanapura Krishna Byre Gowda also slammed the BBMP and accused it of discrimination over fund allotment to Assembly constituencies.
Bengalureans have constantly suffered from damaged and pothole-ridden roads. The poor condition of the roads has also led to several accidents.
In October this year, the Bengaluru traffic police said that to avoid accidents due to potholes in the city, it was initiating proactive measures, which included filing FIRs against officers of civic agencies for negligence.