In March 2022, BBMP announced that it is targeting to restore all dug up roads within two months
The double road that connects Kanakapura main road to Bannerghatta main road remains unpaved for more than three years now.The road is posing a threat to the commuters and the area has become a high- risk accident zone.
Madesh E, Executive engineer of Road Infrastructure, Bruhat Bengaluru MahanagaraPalike (BBMP) said, “Out of 794.98 kilometers of road stretch, the work on 298.69 km of road has been completed. We have been constantly working on the roads.”
He added, “We are compelled to postpone work due to recurrent rains.”
In March 2022, BBMP declared that it would repair all dug-up roads in 110 villages in city’s outer zone in eight weeks leading up to monsoon. The estimated cost of the project was Rs. 1078 crore.
BBMP planned to asphalt 392 kms spread across 208 roads across the city at a cost of Rs. 600 crore. But, BBMP missed the deadline once again and people are facing different issues.
Jitendra S,a resident in the area said, “The other day, my sister skidded off her scooty because of the sludge on the road and hurt herself while coming back from work.” His sister Jayalaxmi S. said, “I am skipping work because I hurt my leg. The cab drivers refuse to pick me up from my doorstep when it rains, because the roads get waterlogged.”
BBMP has been facing issues with the company which owns the pothole-filling machines called Python.
On January 3, 2022, the contract with American Road Technology and Solution (ARTS), which owns Python machines, expired. Even though BBMP had no complaints about the machine’s service or quality of work, the contract was not automatically renewed. The contract was renewed after the High Court (HC) issued a ruling on February 7, 2022.
However, the conflict did not end there. BBMP and the ARTS had to seek help from the High Court to solve the issue over the rate at which the payment had to be made to avail the service of the pothole-filling machine.
On April 21, 2022, HC directed ARTS to start the pothole-repairing work immediately on the 182 km stretch of main roads. The company demanded Rs.1,249 per hour whereas BBMP argued that amount is paid for emergency use of Python which is not the case with ARTS.
HC directed the Chief Commissioner to take a decision on the issue and the court will direct the issue on May 30, 2022.
