Karnataka CM admits to sorry state of Bengaluru roads, promises ‘road maintenance audit’
BENGALURU:
As if the roads in the core areas of the city are not nightmarish enough, those on the periphery of the city are in an even more parlous state. This is such a glaring state of affairs that even the government, which otherwise presents alternative statistics to defend itself on various other development issues, has simply no defence on the sorry state of Bengaluru’s roads. So much so that even Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, in a written response to a question by MLC and former city mayor PR Ramesh, admitted on Thursday that despite the government spending a huge amount of Rs 20,060 crore on their upkeep since 2015, not a single stretch of city roads is free of problems.
Bommai, who also keeps with him the portfolio of Bengaluru development, said in his reply that the length of asphalted roads in the city is 11,283.05 km, of which motorable arterial and sub-arterial roads account for just 1,344.34 km.
The CM promised a ‘road maintenance audit’ to fix responsibility on errant officials. This, he admitted, was necessary since city legislators continue to face flak from their constituents over the poor state of Bengaluru roads.
Magadi Road’s ‘disrepair’
Giving an example, Ramesh noted that work on Magadi Road was completed just three months ago but potholes are back on the road and have had to be patched up a couple of times.
To a question on whether there was even a single one-km stretch on the main Bengaluru roads that did not have “thermal cracks, potholes, stripping, debonding, bleeding, ravelling”, the government was compelled to respond in the negative.
Also Read: Most of Bengaluru’s roads are now pothole-free, says BBMP
