Bengaluru: Basavaraj Bommai, Bengaluru Chief Minister, revealed that the Karnataka government has spent Rs 20,060 crore on various road projects in Bengaluru over the past five years. Bommai, who is also the minister-in-charge for the Bengaluru constituency, made the revelation while responding to a query during the monsoon session of the state Assembly. ‘I agree that the roads in Bengaluru are discussed no matter which government is in power. We elected representatives get a lot of criticism,’ Bommai said.
In his response, the chief minister admitted that only 1,344.34 kms are motorable out of 11,285.05 kms of roads in the city, which is one of the biggest infrastructure problems gnawing at India’s IT capital forever. He said that he would conduct a road maintenance audit to keep track of money spent on roads (both arterial and subaerial), estimates when work started and the final cost, maintenance history, potholes, and get feedback from contractors, officials, and everyone involved in the project to keep track of expenditures. ‘I will fix the responsibility on officers,’ Bommai added
Congress MLC PR Ramesh, who asked the government for details on road infrastructure, said on Thursday that officials and others involved are ‘looting public money.’ ‘They are only earning money with no intention of doing good work,’ he told the press on Thursday.
Though Bengaluru’s administrators want it to be a global city, most of its residents lack basic amenities despite being India’s second largest revenue generator. Many governments have repeatedly invoked the pretext of ‘developing city’ to avoid taking responsibility for their inaction in providing motorable roads free of potholes, dust, slush, and other life-threatening features.
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Several people have lost their lives due to the administration’s apathy over the years. According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) latest report, Bengaluru led the country in registering cases against civic authorities for causing deaths due to negligence in 2020. The 18 cases reported by the country account for 85% of all such cases. Mumbai and New Delhi accounted for the other three cases reported in this category, while no civic authorities were held responsible for death due to negligence in other cities, Hindustan Times reported on September 15.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has 198 wards and councillors elected from each. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been in power in the corporation since 2010 until September 2020. Bengaluru has been without an elected council for more than a year, leaving officers responsible for most of the public works with little accountability.
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