Bengaluru: Crores of rupees spent on road development in the last 17 months has literally gone down the drain as the city roads have developed crater like potholes due to the shoddy works, alleged N.R. Ramesh, spokesperson, BJP city unit.
Mr Ramesh told the media people on Wednesday that the city has spent about Rs 1,015.94 crore for asphalting. As much as 707 km of roads developed have vanished after the recent rains, he said, and demanded a CBI probe and a white paper on the issue.
In the last five months, around 20,000 potholes, which are virtual death traps, have surfaced on city roads. On an average, each kilometre of city’s roads have 29 potholes, he said.
“Substandard work is being executed and the projects are not subjected to any kind of quality audit because of the unholy nexus between politicians and officials. Of the Rs 7,300 crore spent on road works, Rs 2,075 crore has gone for road-related works,” he said.
Rs 15.20 crore has been squandered in the name of covering potholes using python machines and the issue has been reported by the Technical Vigilance Cell under the Commissioner (TVCC).
Rs 16.88 crore has been spent only for covering potholes in the BBMP jurisdiction in the last 17 months, but still the potholes have become omnipresent. Even the Sirsi Circle flyover that was upgraded at a cost of whopping Rs 5 crore has been damaged within two months. This shows the quality of the work executed, he said.
The empowered committee which has been formed to approve various works has violated the spirit of the 74th Amendment and snatched the powers of the BBMP council and standing committee. The BBMP has absolutely no say in any of the projects, he alleged.
