CORPORATION:Bengaluru Development Minister K J George on Tuesday directed BBMP Commissioner Kumar Naik to prepare a calendar of events for 2016.
The calendar should specify a schedule for asphalting, desilting and filling potholes, he said on Tuesday.
“This will help the BBMP avoid civil works at the wrong time. Asphalting and filling potholes should be done before the monsoon,’’ he said.
George described pothole repair as a temporary fix. “I am interested in durable roads,’’ he told reporters.
Touring the city for four-and-a-half hours, he inspected ongoing works at Yelahanka, Mahadevapura, Sarvajnanagar, Yeshwanthpur, and Byatarayanapura.
At many places, he took officials to task for the low quality of public works.
The tour began at 6.30 am. George and Naik visited the railway overbridge at Allalsandra near Yelahanka. It was built at a cost of Rs 39 crore, with the BBMP contributing Rs 26 crore.
Noticing the potholes on the bridge, George directed Naik to check with the Railways and get the contractor to repair it before its inauguration.
Yelahanka 16th B Main was asphalted in 2013-14. On the 1.83 km stretch, George noticed about 200 metres of damaged surface.
“It has been just a year and it is already damaged,” he said, threatening action against the officials as well as contractors concerned.
Later, he told reporters contractors guilty of low-quality work would be blacklisted. “We need to take a contractor’s credibility into account,’’ he said.
Engineers drew George’s ire when they could not furnish road history at Vidyaranyapura in Byatarayanapura constituency.
At Ramachandrapura Main Road, BWSSB work was in progress. Some residents complained about civic apathy.
“It looks like no civic agency has conducted a grievance meet here. Otherwise, the public would not have approached us,’’ he said.
Sand mafia caught red-handed
At Yelahanka New Town, George saw a lorry carrying filtered sand and regular sand. “He noticed a lorry parked at a vacant site. On its sides were mounds of filtered and regular sand. Some people were trying to mix the two,” an official said. George caught them red-handed and purportedly asked the police to file a case. He also noticed that the footpath had been flattened to make it easy for lorries to enter the site.
Citizens protest
Residents of Chalaghatta, Mahadevapura were planning a protest, seeking better roads and Cauvery water. Minister George, who noticed vehicles parked on both sides of a road, directed the police to allow parking only on one side. He assured citizens the roads would be improved soon. They withdrew the protest