With an allocation of ₹2,000 crore spread across 120 diverse initiatives, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has rekindled the flame of development after a long lull. But the focus on white-topping and asphalting has led to dissenting voices that question the civic body’s sense of priorities.
According to details provided by the BBMP, the civic body is planning white-topping of 45 roads of which 35 are in the core areas, including M.G. Road and Cubbon Road, of Bengaluru.
Ashish Verma, convenor of Sustainable Transportation Lab at the Indian Institute of Science, told The Hindu that spending funds on white-topping roads, which are in good condition, is a misplaced priority. “Instead, the BBMP should ensure better working conditions of rainwater drains to avoid flooding. The flooding during monsoon is a major cause for potholes in Bengaluru. There is absolutely no necessity for white-topping M.G. Road and Cubbon Road,” he said.
Srinivas Reddy of Bengaluru Nava Nirman Party (BNP) said the Karnataka government and BBMP are keen on big-ticket projects for the wrong reasons, and this is not the first government to allocate funds for arterial and sub-arterial roads. “The previous government, in the last leg, released about ₹6,000 crore. This has been the practice for many years,” he pointed out.
He wants development to begin from wards, based on citizens’ priorities. “No citizen has demanded white-topping after this new government assumed power. At present, the government’s priority should be handling the water crisis. The water problem will worsen. The price of a water tanker (12,000 litres) has reached ₹5,000. What are the plans of the BBMP to resolve this permanently?”
Amaresh S., an activist, alleged that the Congress government wants to show that it is working. as Lok Sabha polls are round the corner.
