A badly maintained stretch on Mission Road.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: Despite the BBMP lavishing funds on roadworks, the powerful contractors’ lobby has ensured that the civic body’s in-house asphalt plant in Kannur, built at a cost of Rs 80 crore, remains idle.
As a result, potholes continue to plague almost all major roads in the city, including high-traffic corridors.
In an effort to reduce its reliance on private contractors, the BBMP had established the plant in 2018-19, with the capacity to produce 120 tonnes of asphalt per hour. Hopes were high that the facility would cut down the civic body’s roadwork expenses. The BBMP had also planned to use its own engineers to manage the plant.
However, records show that the civic body continues to rely heavily on private contractors for even small-scale projects. The BBMP has drastically reduced its investment in the plant over the years.
In some cases, the BBMP has hired private contractors for works costing as little as Rs 10 lakh, bypassing its in-house facility.
Sources said the BBMP’s zonal engineers have struggled to repair roads in their jurisdictions in recent weeks due to their requests for asphalt being denied. Consequently, roads in need of urgent repairs are now being attended to by the traffic police or citizen groups.
Images and videos of crater-filled roads have been widely circulated on social media, further highlighting the issue.