Bad roads; K'taka home minister wants B'luru in charge minister to take onus

Bengaluru: Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Friday put the onus on Bengaluru In-charge Minister K J George to take action against erring contractors for poor state of roads in the city following the death of four persons allegedly due to potholes.

"The action (against erring contractors for poor state of roads in Bengaluru) will be taken by George," he told reporters in Bengaluru.

He was replying to a query as to how many contractors have been booked and blacklisted for poor road conditions after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, on October 12, spoke about initiating action against those who failed to meet the 15-day deadline to fill potholes.

The government had given Rs 4,000 crore for roads, of which only about Rs 1,150 crore were spent, Reddy said.

"The government is in the process to spend remaining money. The contractors are ready to take up work, but incessant rains are not allowing them to take up work," he added.

Reddy flayed BJP for playing "cheap politics" over potholes and invited its leaders including state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa to join hands with the government to solve the pothole problem.

"Instead of resorting to cheap pothole politics, BJP leaders should do constructive criticism and join hands with the government to solve the problem," he said.

On Thursday, BJP had staged a protest by painting potholes and planting saplings in them.