BENGALURU: Keeping Assembly election in mind, many of the city roads were repaired and asphalted. But summer showers exposed the quality of work done, with potholes opening up on arterial stretches and interior lanes.
The worst affected stretches include Mysuru Road, West of Chord Road, Gavipuram Main Road near Kohinoor Playgrounds, Bull Temple Road near Uma Theatre, parts of Kathriguppe Road, Rajarajeshwarinagar Main Road near arch, Tippu Nagar in Chamarajpet, Nehru Circle at Sheshadripuram, Gandhinagar and surrounding areas, Doddaballapura Road near Allalsandra, Shivajinagar, Shanthinagar and JC Nagar near TV tower.
A senior BBMP engineer, on condition of anonymity, said that the corporation engineers were under pressure from councillors, MLAs and ministers to finish asphalting before election. “Our engineers worked day and night to complete the work. We have not compromised with materials, but we agree that these roads are laid hurriedly and not scientifically. Therefore, even if we use the best-quality material available, these roads won’t last. Moreover, there has been heavy downpour for the last few days,” he said.
At Shanthinagar, near A2B restaurant, residents often complain about water logging damaging their road. “Just a couple of months back, before election, it was asphalted. But recent rains have reversed that work... the asphalting was an eye wash,” said Nelbin, resident of Shanthalanagar.
The Nagarbhavi Main Road (which connects Chandra Layout and Bengaluru University) is also in a bad state. “I used to ride my two wheeler but not for the past many weeks. This road is a nightmare now,” said Swaroopa Venkatesh, resident of NGEF Layout in Nagarbhavi.
Last year, City roads were in bad shape with potholes claiming lives of young and old. The State government and BBMP, after a lot of hue and cry, took up road-repair work on a war-footing though after missing many deadlines. Out of 1,400 km on major roads, 500 km were marked for asphalting and 100 km for white topping. The work was completed but these summer showers have exposed the disappointing quality of work done.
M Maheshwar Rao, BBMP Commissioner, told The New Indian Express that he has directed the BBMP Quality Control Cell to do random checks and find the cause for damage if any. He said that he has also directed engineers to repair defective stretches. “Many roads that were asphalted few months back will come under defect liability period. These will be repaired at the contractors’ cost. BBMP will repair others. We have to survey the extent of damage,” he said.