Latest White-topping project to cost `800 crore: BBMP

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: Soon after inaugurating the white-topping of roads in a few areas, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has released a list of roads to be whitetopped soon, costing the Central Projects Department Rs. 800 crore, it was revealed on Tuesday.

The BBMP has earmarked 150 km of arterial and subarterial roads to be whitetopped in a bid to avoid potholes during rains. However, this move has attracted questions about the implementation and the nullification of water percolation.

Around 64 km of roads will be white-topped, costing around Rs. 12.3 crore for every kilometre. The package allocated for roads in KR Pura, Mahadevapura, and Yesvantpur Assembly constituencies is Rs. 140 crore for around 10 km of road infrastructure.

The road infrastructure department will invest Rs. 1,200 crore in roads, out of which Rs. 900 crore is earmarked for white-topping. However, the package also includes black-topping with asphalt of select roads in both Mahadevapura and Bommanahalli Assembly constituencies, with Rs. 100 crore allocated to each.

Only 516 potholes yet to be filled: DKS

Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D.K. Shivakumar has spurred efforts to concretise roads in the city to avoid the formation of potholes.

“Out of 16,202 identified potholes from April to June this year, 15,686 of them are filled, 516 are yet to be filled,” he told media persons. A grant of Rs. 15 lakh is set aside to fill these potholes with cold asphalt mix.