Guest Column: Agencies keep digging & digging, not knowing what others do

We have been pointing out for many years that there is hardly any coordination among the civic agencies in the city. The BBMP does not know what the BWSSB is doing and vice versa.

The BESCOM does not bother to inform other agencies where it has dug up roads to lay electric cables and the police has little idea where the BBMP plans to asphalt or white- top roads, to help it divert traffic accordingly.

Unless and until there is coordination among the civic bodies and they are held more accountable, the condition of Bengaluru’s roads will not improve.
Not only is driving on them a nightmare, many roads of Bengaluru East are in such bad shape that people are not even able to walk on them.

Unfortunately, as far as the city is concerned, all political parties are the same. When the BJP was in the opposition, it blamed the then ruling parties for the poor state of Bengaluru. But now that it is in power with three Deputy Chief Ministers and the Chief Minister himself holding the Bengaluru Development portfolio, little has changed.

No BBMP corporator is willing to take responsibility as they are all now in election mood. With no other alternative, people are sharing their pleas with MPs, who do not have any say in these matters.

We need to have accountability for everything. When will the BWSSB complete the pipe- laying work and when will the roads be asphalted? We need to have a specific deadline for everything. Only then can the city truly develop.

The writer is the President, Citizen’s Action Forum