BENGALURU: Even as the BBMP held a meeting with other civic agencies on Monday for better coordination following criticism over bad condition of roads, it has sent a positive report to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on the condition of roads. BBMP Commissioner, Tushar Girinath, Additional Chief Secretary Rajneesh Goel and Administrator Rakesh Singh were among those who attended the meeting.
Talking to reporters, Girinath claimed the meeting was convened as a follow-up to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s direction to decongest the city and not to discuss potholes.Meanwhile, the BBMP has communicated to the PMO in a four-page report that the roads on which Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled during his visit to Bengaluru are intact and have not suffered any damages. The report states that the sinking road near BASE was not on PM’s travel route. Despite the claim, the civic body has strangely sent show cause notices to three engineers and imposed a fine of Rs 3 lakh on a contractor for shoddy work.
Clarifying its report sent to the PMO, Girinath said the roads were tarred in November 2021 and seepage was found in April-May. He stressed that the sinkhole was found close to BASE and not the road on which the PM was to travel. “As we were planning to cover many patches during the PM’s visit, we covered that too. Here two lines were found. BWSSB’s ducktail iron line is fine but the old CMC pipe was defunct and when it rains, the seepage comes out and accumulates at its lowest point and hence it was sinking. We will concrete it and fix it.” he said.
He further added that the Palike is still inquiring about the Mariyappanapalaya road which was peeled off. Once the report comes, steps will be taken. “The PMO did not ask (about Mariyappanapalaya). It asked for details only about reports of roads on which the PM travelled. We have sent a reply only to that. Our TVCC will check the depth and bitumen,” he added.