All road works in Bengaluru to be completed before monsoon, says Deputy CM Shivakumar

All ongoing road works in Bengaluru will be completed before the monsoon, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said on Saturday. Over the last three months, the government has released close to Rs 2,671 crore to take up road works, and 80 per cent of the works have been tendered out, he said.

“Most of the work has started. I have instructed the officials to ensure that all of them are completed by the end of April so that we are ready before the monsoon,” he said.

Till now, the government has released close to Rs 5,065 crore to take up blacktopping and whitetopping works.

“Just last year, we had released close to Rs 694 crore for 389 km of blacktopping works and Rs 1,700 crore for whitetopping,” Shivakumar noted.

He also directed officials to post daily developments along with videos to ensure accountability.

“I have asked the officials not to wait for any MLA or minister to inaugurate the roads or perform any pooja. They will finish the works and open them up for the public immediately,” he said.

Reviewing the progress of the B-to-A khata conversion scheme, Shivakumar said the corporations had received close to 7,000 applications so far.

“Our revenue inspectors have to personally visit every property and inspect them. Hence, it is taking time to process these applications,” he said.

The corporations will also soon start purchasing smaller sweeping machines to improve cleanliness. These handheld machines will help pourakarmikas clean the corners of roads better.

The corporations will also soon start distributing pushcarts to close to 30,000 street vendors who have applied under the corporation’s welfare schemes.

“We have already started issuing them ID cards. We want them to use only pushcarts for vending and, this way, we can prevent encroachment on footpaths and roads,” Shivakumar said.

‘No pending bills for contractors’

Addressing a question about pending dues to contractors, Shivakumar said none of the contractors working with the city corporation have pending bills.

“If there are any pending bills, they have been held back due to technical reasons. All the other pending bills have been cleared. Only about 10% of the bills may be pending,” he said.

e-khata distribution

Close to ten lakh properties in the city have now received e-khata, and the government will soon hold an event to officially distribute the khatas, he announced.

“All of them have downloaded the e-khata, but we want to officially distribute it to them. This is our government’s ‘bhu guarantee’. Hence, we will distribute it to all ten lakh property owners at once at an event on the third Saturday of April,” he said.