BENGALURU: The long-pending road history project, which will help citizens keep a hawk’s eye on the previous construction works and other details on roads, will be put up on public platform by January 2020.
During an interaction with The New Indian Express, Deputy Chief Minister, Dr C N Ashwath Narayan said, “The project has been delayed for long but now it will be in place. The state government has given Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) three months time to get the road history project in public domain and by January 2020.”
The Geographical Information system-based road history of BBMP was initiated in 2013. However, due to the delay by the authorities, it was not implemented. In 2016, former BBMP Commissioner G Kumar Naik had stated that it would be launched in 2018, but it did not happen. However, now the DyCM brings in some hope that the project will be in place in 2020.
The project was meant to bring out transparency and provide a unique identity number to each road. The concerned authority should put up details about the condition of the road, the last time it was asphalted, length and breadth of the road, name of the contractor, money spent on the work and the day it started and finished.
“It will even include details of the tree census, the permission given for any tree to be cut. This apart, works taken up on street lights and the footpaths, will also be displayed,” the DyCM said.
Speaking to TNIE, BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar said, “We already have road history on the Palike’s website, but it has not been updated. Now, we are updating and are looking into having all the details completed before January.”
Kumar said in places where road restoration work is being carried out, a board will be put mentioning the length of the road restored, contractor’s name, and the unique number of the road. “In case, the work is not done properly, citizens can directly call the contractor and ask me to take up the work again.”
Potholes should be filled on priority basis
Narayan said BBMP should get potholes filled on priority basis and that no reason should be given for delay. “Reasons like, rains making the road damp is not acceptable. With the equipment that the BBMP has, they can easily do the work,” he said.