BENGALURU: A government order issued on Monday mandated uploading of applications for road-cutting on Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) software, failing which unauthorised road-cutting will attract penalty of Rs 25 lakh if it is a government or private organisation, and Rs 10 lakh if it is an individual.
BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad said, “Multi Agency Road Cutting Coordination System is operational and agencies like the BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewwerage Board), GAIL (Gas Authority India Limited) and those who want to lay Optical Fibre Cables have to apply online through this software for permission.”
He said: “Once the application has been made, the request will go to the engineers concerned and police will also be in the loop. So all agencies will know if one agency wants to cut a particular road. There was one agency where we levied a penalty of Rs 1 crore.”As per the BBMP, 27 executive engineers will be involved in the process.
For individuals, including commercial complexes, who require water, electricity and sewerage connections, a separate online platform has been provided to apply for road-cutting permissions. In cases where laying an underground pipeline is not possible, BBMP will charge government undertakings Rs 1,857 per metre for an open trench system.
It is also mandatory to install signages where road-cutting is under way. Also, in cases where an agency exceeds the time given for completion of road-cutting, it has to pay for asphalting the road. For unauthorised laying of optical fibre cables, the BBMP will charge three times the amount charged per metre of cables. BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad had recently said that 23,474 roads (3,795 km) have been cut in the city.