JOIN USQuality matters, Siddaramaiah reminds PWD engineers
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday took a dig at the Public Works Department (PWD) engineers and the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), by highlighting the poor quality of road asphaltation.
Speaking after laying the foundation stone for 10 new projects being implemented by the PWD, Siddaramaiah reminded the engineers of the extremely low quality work being executed in the State, in particular, the Capital.
“The engineers award works worth crores of rupees, only to see them disintegrate after three or four heavy showers. This time, after the heavy rains, wherever you see, there are potholes. That is the quality of work being sanctioned by our engineers,” he said.
Siddaramaiah hoped that at least the pothole-filling work is done better than asphaltation.
“When I questioned them as to why the roads are disintegrating, they say that the cost estimate prepared by them itself is low. This is leading to low quality projects. They say they have no money for maintenance. I suggested them, take up small patches of work if there is no money and do a good job. This is the situation with the BBMP engineering division,” he said.
Terming the upcoming works as pilot projects to see whether the government’s renewed effort to ensure quality projects has worked or not, Siddaramaiah asked the engineers to pull up their socks and start providing quality projects.
Earlier, Assembly speaker Kagodu Thimmappa made a sarcastic remark on the PWD department, that the engineers have a hole in their palms, hinting at the bribery charges and revenue leakage while implementing projects.
PWD minister warns
Pubic Works Department Minister H C Mahadevappa warned the engineers that they will be held responsible if works are of low quality and overshoot the deadline.
According to the minister, the 10 new projects have 18 months for completion.“For those which involve modernisation, the time frame is only six months. It is the responsibility of the engineers to ensure that they are completed on time by following guidelines and specifications for quality work,” he said.