Many roads in bad shape due to lack of coordination

Many roads in bad shape due to lack of coordination

The Hindu

No permission for road cutting on stretches taken up under the KMRP in the next five years

# Crores of rupees go waste because of frequent digging
# Companies told to take up only horizontal direct drilling and not digging
# BMP to install internal ducts along stretches of roads to pass cables

BANGALORE: The Prashanthnagar Main Road in Govindarajnagar was asphalted in April. Weeks later, it was dug up by the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) to replace underground cables.

Similarly, the stretch from Anil Kumble Circle to Brigade Road junction on Mahatma Gandhi Road, one of the most prominent roads in the city, was dug up by the Bescom in May to lay cables. The same stretch was dug up two months ago by an optic fibre cable (OFC) firm to lay cables.

These are just a few examples of lack of coordination between the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike and other service providers resulting in damage of roads asphalted recently. Though the BMP enters into an agreement with the OFC firms and other utilities, who seek permission for road cutting, that the cut portion should be restored to its original condition, it has never happened properly.

Several prominent roads developed under the Municipal Bond scheme or the Motorable Roads scheme or even the Complete Blacktop Asphalting scheme were damaged months after they were laid because of digging. With the BMP all set to start another massive road upgradation project with World Bank funds, citizens are wondering whether the civic body will be able to check road cutting on the roads taken up under this project.

"Crores of rupees spent on the road works have gone waste. Because of frequent digging the road surface becomes weak and potholes appear even after slight rains. We hope the BMP strictly enforces the road opening and restoration protocol and ensure that the roads are not dug up after they are asphalted this time," H. Amarnath, a resident of Amarjyothinagar in Binnypet Assembly constituency, said.

But BMP officials said that the civic body had already informed the OFC companies that permission for road cutting will not be allowed at least for the next five years on the roads being taken under the Karnataka Municipal Reforms Project (KMRP). "Companies who want to cut roads identified for this project have been asked to take permission and complete work by mid-December. We will complete work on repair of retaining walls, culverts, drains and other civil works by then and actual asphalting will take off from January," a top BMP official told The Hindu .

Pointing out that several companies had already sought permission for road cutting, the official said the BMP had asked the companies to take up only horizontal direct drilling.

Sources in the BMP's engineering division said the BMP will install internal ducts along stretches of roads being upgraded. "This is just to make sure that if these roads have to be cut in future, the company can just pass the cables through these ducts. But that is only in unavoidable circumstances. As of now, we have strictly told them we will not allow cutting for the next five years," the sources added.