Adding to the chorus of BJP leaders in Karnataka including Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, three-time Bengaluru Central MP PC Mohan has suggested that the contentious white-topping projects be called off. This remark came when the MP was interacting with residents of the Central Business District on Saturday.
“I have requested the Chief Minister to stop this project. I am not the deciding authority,” the MP told TNM. The MP cited the high cost of Rs 12 crore for one kilometre of road, and traffic jams caused due to the extended construction period, as reasons against the project.
Currently, the CM has ordered a probe by the Chief Secretary on the use of funds for two phases of white-topping works and all further works are stalled until the probe report is ready. Office of Deputy Chief Minister Ashwath Narayan who is handling matters related to the city’s civic issues currently in the absence of a Bengaluru Development Minister also said that there won’t be any white-topping work sanctioned until there is further clarity.
White-topping is a process where normal bitumen asphalted roads are given a concrete topping in the hope of giving them a longer lifespan and to prevent formation of potholes. BBMP and the state government in the previous years had said that white-topping is the ultimate cure for the pothole menace, since concrete roads have a lifespan of around 30 years, unlike asphalt roads, which need to be tarred every three or four years.
But experts and a section of citizens had questioned the BBMP’s haphazard planning and the delay in executing the projects without any public consultation. Some experts also said roads were being built unscientifically, altering the height of roads from the drains.
Read: Why the white-topping of roads in Bengaluru is riddled with problems
Some residents had even gone to the Karnataka High Court objecting to white-topping of the road from Madhavan Park to Nettakallappa Circle, alleging that the BBMP had adopted unscientific methods. They claimed that white-topping will make the road uneven and it will lack drainage facilities for both rainwater and sewage as no culverts have been built.
Some activists and the opposition BJP had also questioned why good roads were being rebuilt, and alleged corruption in the form of kickbacks from contractors to be the driver behind the project.
Read:K'taka CM Yediyurappa orders probe on Bengaluru’s white-topping, Tender Sure works