BENGALURU : The white topping project, currently being carried out on 20 roads by the civic agency, with 92 more roads due to be taken up, has been receiving criticism from residents and motorists alike for a long time. Massive disruptions to traffic have been adding to commuters’ woes in areas where white topping of the roads has been taken up by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
Now, the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) has also spoken up against the project, terming it a ‘nuisance’. In a scathing statement issued this week, FKCCI pulled up BBMP and the state government, and said that the civic body is attending to the allotted works without the right level of interest.
FKCCI president Sudhakar Shetty said in a statement, “The BBMP’s work, of laying concrete roads is a new wound surfacing in and around Bengaluru without the application of mind and suffocating the environment.” Shetty added, “They are only creating more noise and pollution and reducing the already dwindling ecosystem. It won’t be surprising if the water from drainage gushes into houses shortly when the rains arrive.”
Shetty further said the government should have focused on service roads before taking the main roads out for white topping. “It is common sense to first complete service roads and then stitch the main roads, which the authorities are not following. Such unplanned, ill-timed exertions have become a nuisance to the citizens of Bengaluru and are also an eyesore to those who visit our city,” he said.