Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar announces ₹660 crore to repair bad roads in Bengaluru

A day after Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D.K. Shivakumar set a deadline of 15 days to fill potholes, he said on Monday that the government will set aside ₹660 crore to repair arterial and sub-arterial roads in the city. This follows several complaints over bad road stretches, especially following the monsoon rains.

A day after Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D.K. Shivakumar set a deadline of 15 days to fill potholes, he said on Monday that the government will set aside ₹660 crore to repair arterial and sub-arterial roads in the city. This follows several complaints over bad road stretches, especially following the monsoon rains.

Mr. Shivakumar said the civic body had identified 2,795 potholes to be filled in 15 days. “Over and above this, we have decided to take up repair work of major arterial and sub-arterial roads that are in a bad condition at a cost of ₹660 crore,” he said.

Chief Civic Commuissioner Tushar Giri Nath clarified that the ₹660 crore grant will not be used to fill potholes. “We have already prepared an action plan identifying road stretches to be taken up under the project. We will put out the list of roads in the public domain soon,” he said.

Mr. Shivakumar also announced that the BBMP will be laying roads running up to 300 km along Storm Water Drains (SWDs). However, he did not announce the estimated cost of the project. The city has a SWD network of over 829 km.

Mr. Giri Nath said to lay this road, which will have cycle lanes and pavement for pedestrians, the estimated cost per km is ₹7 crore to ₹10 crore. However, this is the initial estimation. The BBMP is now planning to redesign and the cost will be revised. The roads will be built in the buffer zone of SWDs.

It should be noted that the BBMP’s K-100 project, beautification of a 9.2 km stretch of SWDs and transforming the same into a waterway from Koramangala Rajakaluve to Bellandur lake, is yet to be fully materialised. 

The project has been met with stiff opposition. V. Ramprasad, an activist of Friends of Lakes, said the BBMP had failed to implement K-100 project but wanted to now develop 300 km long roads in the buffer zone of drains. He said the conceptualisation of this project may be premature without fixing the SWD problems. “If the road was constructed before desilting the drains, removing encroachments and ensuring sewage is not flowing in these drains, sewage water will flood these roads,” he said.