The city’s roads are riddled with potholes and making matters worse for both pedestrians and motorists is the fact that streetlights often are not functioning. Such complaints have been regularly received by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), especially about the flyovers, underpasses and grade separators that have been built and maintained by the Bangalore Development Authority.
In this connection, City Mayor D. Venkatesh Murthy, on Tuesday, wrote to Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar urging him to direct the BDA officials to either maintain the flyovers, underpasses and grade separators that the authority has built or transfer the same to the BBMP.
In the letter, Mr. Murthy has said that the BBMP had received complaints about poorly maintained roads and non-functioning streetlights on flyovers, underpasses and grade separators maintained by BDA. He has urged Mr. Shettar to direct the BDA officials to maintain these, else hand it over to the civic body despite the fact that the BBMP has failed in improving basic infrastructure in the city itself.
BBMP officials claimed that the BDA was not financially empowered to take up maintenance of the infrastructure it has built in the city. There are around 20 flyovers, underpasses and grade separators still under the BDA control, while 12 are in various stages of completion.