Co-ordination panel's nod must before any road repair: BBMP

Facing criticism that several newly asphalted roads in the City have been dug up, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has made it mandatory for all public and private authorities to seek the permission of a co-ordination committee before carrying out any work involving roads.

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom), the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL), the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) and telecom firms will have to prepare their short- and long-term action plans and submit them to the co-ordination committee so that the Palike can plan accordingly.

The BBMP will also publish the information on its website to keep citizens informed about the proposals. This will enable the agencies to get their suggestions and objections about the proposals.

BBMP Commissioner G Kumar Naik convened a meeting of the co-ordination committee with all the stakeholders on Monday, in the backdrop of a newly asphalted road in Vyalikaval being dug up for some repair. Naik said that various agencies were carrying development activities in different parts of Bengaluru and the challenge was to repair the damaged portion of roads.

“Proper patchwork must follow once the road is dug up, which is not happening. The BBMP’s permission is rarely sought before a road is dug up. There have been instances where newly laid roads were damaged,” he told the officers after the meeting.

Naik acknowledged that citizens were justly angered by the damage caused to roads. He told the officers that during the City rounds, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah too came across this common grouse of bad roads, which happened due to lack of co-ordination among civic agencies. Although the co-ordination committee was formed at the chief minister’s instance, there is scant respect for its directives, he added.

“It’s the BBMP commissioner who is often pulled up whenever a road is damaged, due to which the BBMP commissioner has been assigned to co-ordinate with all the civic agencies,” Naik added.