Roads laid to imperfection

Roads laid to imperfection
Deccan Herald

A cartel of contractors dictating terms to officials, incorrect laboratory tests and poor quality materials – are among the reasons for bad roads in Bangalore, said a committee of engineers appointed by the Karnataka High Court to check the quality of City roads and oversee their laying and repair.

A cartel of contractors dictating terms to officials, incorrect laboratory tests and poor quality materials — are among the reasons for bad roads in Bangalore, said a committee of engineers appointed by the Karnataka High Court to check the quality of City roads and oversee their laying and repair. “The result of the sample tests carried out by the third party agency of the BMP is incorrect. It can be clearly concluded that the material for the road and the tar used is far from satisfactory,” stated the the committee, headed by retired chief engineer Capt Raja Rao.

The BMP has six consultants for quality checking. However, they carry out only four tests, which are more in the nature of a postmortem. The consultants have failed in their duties, the panel opined.

The committee was constituted following a public interest petition filed by former MLA K N Subba Reddy, complaining about the bad condition of roads in the City.

The court set up a panel with B L Balakrishna, retired chief engineer, PWD and R Jayaprasad, retired engineer-in-chief, National Highways as members. The panel inspected roads in 15 wards before submitting its report.

The report pointed out that many engineers did not possess the necessary handbook on roads issued by the Indian Road Congress (IRC) and they are using their own unscientific methods for laying roads.

The engineers are working without appropriate technical guidelines to ensure quality, the report indicated. Many contractors did not even possess necessary machinery to carry out the work.

The BMP has made payments to the contractors in spite of adverse reports by the consultants on the condition of roads, the report stated.

The BMP has adopted short term tenders system which is not justified as per the Transparency Act, the committee noted.

Recommendations

Engineers should be better equipped

Follow Transparency Act in awarding tenders

Form tech panel to evaluate contractors and engineers

Constitute committee to check financial irregularities

Provide proper drainage system, desilt drains