A few days ago, the Bengaluru civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike had proudly announced that they had spent an amount of Rs 23 crores to fix roads for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bengaluru trip. However, just three days after the Prime Minister’s visit, the newly-renovated roads are already in tatters. Visuals from the newly-laid Jnanabharti main road show the newly-asphalted road peeling off like paint, requiring barely any effort.
TV9 Kannada also showed how a part of the road also caved in a little, causing a small dent in the road. After the road caved in, the authorities seem to have put a plant in the middle to warn commuters of the obstacle. This stretch of road was asphalted at a cost of Rs 6 crore and PM Modi travelled on this stretch on Monday. After a spell of overnight rain, this stretch of the road caved in.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that water leakage could have caused the road to cave in, and that a probe has been ordered. "Regarding caving in of newly asphalted road near BASE campus, CM @BSBommai has asked commissioner BBMP to enquire into the incident and take action against concerned officers. Preliminary enquiry reveals that a new water line has been connected recently which has leaked and caused the damage," the Karnataka CM's office tweeted.
Preliminary enquiry reveals that a new water line has been connected recently which has leaked and caused the damage.
— CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) June 23, 2022
2/2@News18Kannada @News18India
BBMP Special Commissioner (Projects) Ravindra PN had announced to the media ahead of the Prime Minister’s that they had fixed the following stretches: Kengeri to Kommaghatta (7 km), Mysuru Road (0.15 km), a stretch after Hebbal flyover (2.4 km), Tumakuru Road (0.90 km) and roads in Bengaluru University campus (3.6 km). However, these freshly asphalted roads are wearing out already, and in some parts the roads are even caving in, worsening the commute for residents.
“The programme for honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit was fixed fifteen days ago, so it was important to properly maintain the roads that he would traverse. For this, we developed roads of the length of 14 km and we spent Rs 23 crores. We used the funds under the discretionary use of the Chief Commissioner for the work,” Ravindra PN said. The BBMP also said that it had repaired medians, fixed street lights, and painted roads and kerbs.
BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath accepted that the roads have withered away just days after they were remade. He said that a part of the asphalted road was damaged due to heavy rainfall and that it was not fair to say that the entire stretch of repaired road was damaged.
However, shoddy roadwork and perenially potholed streets are not new phenomena in Bengaluru. The Karnataka High Court, too, has time and again pulled up the Karnataka government and the BBMP as well for the terrible roads.
TNM had reported on why Bengaluru’s roads are always in tatters, and why there is no permanent solution to this. Watch here: