
The fact that a total of Rs 23.51 crore was spent to lay asphalt on Bengaluru roads ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit caused a major embarrassment to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) after a portion of a road caved in barely a day after it was asphalted. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has now asked the BBMP commissioner to probe the matter.
The Jnana Bharthi Main Road in southern Bengaluru was asphalted at a cost of Rs 6.05 crore. The municipal body covered a stretch of around 3.6-km in the area that falls under the Bengaluru university campus. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the road to travel to the Dr B R Ambedkar School of Economics (BASE) University Monday to inaugurate the campus. A day later, following a spell of moderate rain, the road caved in just a few metre away from the gate of BASE.
While BBMP engineers suspect that a leaking water or sewage pipeline underneath the surface has resulted in the cave-in, one of them said that it was built in such a short time and that quality work couldn’t have been done. A local officer said, “The road was primarily asphalted for the PM’s visit and the works started only five days before the event. All they needed was the road to be in good condition when the PM visits. This is not the first time and this will not be the last time.”
The civic bodies and district authorities of Karnataka spent around Rs 56 crore, mostly to asphalt the roads taken by Narendra Modi during his two-day visit to Karnataka, showed figures gathered from different authorities.
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The BBMP had redeveloped a total stretch of 14.05 km road before the Prime Minister’s visit. According to BBMP data, the civic agency spent Rs 4.06 crore on the 2.4-km stretch of the Ballari Road, Rs 1.55 crore on the 0.9-km stretch of the Tumkur Road, Rs 6.05 crore on the 3.6-km stretch of University Road, Rs 35 lakh for 0.15-km stretch of the Mysuru Road and Rs 11.5 crore for the 7-km stretch of the Kommaghatta Road.
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