Dissatisfied BBMP administrator Gaurav Gupta asks roadworks division to speed up projects

Nineteen days after taking charge, BBMP administrator Gaurav Gupta was unhappy over the shoddy work by the Road infrastructure Division.

The administrator who inspected various city projects found that the road division had failed to fill potholes, besides leaving debris on major roads and leaving footpaths in a state of disrepair.

During a review meeting on Wednesday with road infrastructure officials, the administrator pointed out that the Sarjapur high-density corridor had not been maintained. The road near Jakkasandra is completely damaged. Motorists face difficulties and traffic is choked, the administrator said.

‘Don’t give excuses’

Assuring him that the Sarjapur road will be repaired soon, officials said the BBMP is working on the signal-free high-density corridor and white-topping on Old Airport Road, Old Madras Road, and Outer Ring Road. Gupta asked them not to give excuses, directing them to submit a detailed map on the roadworks at each zone.

Gupta reminded them that the Road infrastructure Division is responsible for maintaining arterial and sub-arterial roads and ensure smooth traffic flow.

The administrator asked officials to submit a report on the maintenance of roads in the last 10 years, including the length of the roads, their maintenance period, and repair cost.

He also asked them to expedite road projects under the Nagarothana scheme between 2016-17 and 2017-18 and under the Nava Nagarothana project sanctioned during 2018-19.

Acknowledging that the roadworks are stalled due to issues in land acquisition, tree relocation, BWSSB works, road widening, and building of grade separators, railway underpasses, and flyovers, he said officials should have coordinated with other agencies and completed the project on time. The Road infrastructure Division supervises 12 high-density corridors, arterial and sub-arterial roads running up to 1,323 km.

Special Commissioner (Planning) Manoj Jain, Chief of Engineering Section M R Venkatesh, Chief Engineer (Road infrastructure Division) Prahallad, and other officials were present at the meeting.