BENGALURU: Amid allegations of duplication of road works, poor inter-departmental coordination and questions over the expenditure of more than Rs 5,000 crore on Bengaluru roads, a digital initiative conceived more than a decade ago has resurfaced as a possible answer to one of the city’s biggest civic questions – who did what work, at what cost and on which road?
However, despite its ambitious vision, the Road History Project has never been fully utilised as the comprehensive public accountability platform it was intended to be, laments former Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Taxation and Finance Committee Chairman Manjunath Raju, who conceptualised the initiative.
The Road History Project has acquired renewed relevance after Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda reprimanded Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) officials and engineers over the annual pothole filling exercise, cautioning them against the ‘Hale Kallu, Hosa Billu’ (old stone, new bill) practice.
The 2014–15 BBMP budget described the Road History concept as an online Geographical Information System (GIS) platform that would assign every road a permanent identification number and record all related information, to bring transparency to developmental works across the city.
Raju said that when he took over as chairman of the BBMP Taxation and Finance Committee, it was often dismissed as a “useless committee”. An engineer-turned-corporator, he believed that Bengaluru’s civic administration should be driven by data and transparency, which led to the Road History concept.
“Every road, along with the drains, underground cables and associated civic infrastructure, was digitally mapped, creating a comprehensive civic asset database,” he said, adding, “Illegal road cutting by OFC companies and digging by parastatals without BBMP permit, including Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB),
Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom), can be tracked and action initiated. In the absence of effective monitoring, Bengaluru roads are dug up at the convenience of different agencies, resulting in poor quality roads and loss of public money. This can be avoided.”
Describing the Road History platform as the “Aadhaar for roads”, Raju said it was conceived on the same principle as the Property Identification (PID) number assigned to every property. He said more than 13,000km of roads were documented under the project.
Civic activist and founder-member of Bengaluru Praja Vedike, NS Mukunda said the Road History Project was an excellent concept but never fully implemented.
“Unscrupulous engineers, in collusion with contractors, allegedly raised multiple overlapping bills for asphalting the same road stretches, including Shantaveri Gopala Gowda Road. If Road History is implemented in letter and spirit, it would bring in accountability, with every detail relating to road asphalting, funds allocated, potholes reported and repairs undertaken being recorded, leaving no room for corruption,” Mukunda said.