BBMP commences whitetopping 20km of roads

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: In a bid to improve road infrastructure in the city, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) commenced work on white-topping of roads in Chamrajpet, Gandhinagar, Malleswaram and Mahalakshmi Layout, in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Monday.

Twenty kilometres of road will be white-topped, which will cost around Rs. 200 crore. Earlier this month, the BBMP announced it would white-top 150 km of roads in the city.

“The government has marked Rs. 1,800 crore to ensure roads are potholefree and last for 25 years,” said Shivakumar, who also holds the Bengaluru Development portfolio. However, with white-topping works being initiated, traffic snarls around the periphery are inevitable.

“A space of 50 metres must be left for traffic flow,” he said, adding that the authorities have identified space for 200 km of road, for which work will start this year.

“Landowners will be compensated with Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) certificates,” he added.

Experts call for proper drainage on concrete roads

Experts and citizens have pointed out the lack of drainage these white-topped roads possess. Ashish Verma, convenor of the Sustainable Transportation Labs, Indian Institute of Sciences, was skeptical of the civic body’s white-topping of roads.

“The quality of material and the implementation is in question,” he earlier told News Trail. M N Sreehari, technical expert advisor, also echoed similar concerns. “Engineers here do not possess basic competency in laying roads. Most of the stretches do not have a slope for smooth flow of rainwater to the drainages,” he added.