NHAI team to visit Bengaluru next week, check quality of road works

BENGALUR: A team of the National Highways Authority of India will be arriving in Bengaluru next week to check the quality of BBMP roads. The move comes after numerous complaints from citizens about the quality of road works.

Over the last several weeks and months, many road accidents and deaths have been reported due to potholes. At many places, freshly laid asphalt had come off just days after the roads were laid, exposing the poor quality of work executed.

Even after a rap by the Karnataka High Court, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike could not sort out isues related to road works. Hence, the NHAI team is coming to the city and will conduct inspection of the roads.

Potholes on the roads have led to several accidents, and in some cases, even death.

Palike Chief Engineer B S Prahalad said, “Due to the problems in white topping, road construction was delayed. After that, we witnessed rain in the city for many days. Rapid roads are not cost-effective. We have laid a 500 metre-long stretch and we will conduct a study about its capacity, total cost, reduction in traffic problem, vehicle operating cost and other factors. We will take suggestions and opinion from the experts like Indian Road Congress and Central Road Research Institute (CRRI). A detailed assessment will be conducted on defective roads, speed breaker indicators, elicit reactions from people and will discuss on how to do make it cost effective. After the comprehensive study, we will proceed with white-topping work.”

Prahalad, BBMP Chief Engineer, explained the progress of road work.

“We have planned the standard operatimg procedure for white-topping. The Palike engineers gathered feedback from the traffic police. White-topping works and pavement works will be continued based on the situation. We have filled all the potholes before the November 19 deadline, but works on dug-up roads and water leakage points remain. We will complete it after coordinating with authoritis concerned”, he noted.

Referring the NHAI team visiting Bengaluru, Prahalad said, “We welcome NHAI visit to Bengaluru. It may give the citizens more confidence. The NHAI team is coming here after public complaints and it will examine the quality of the roads and construction work. If any defects are pointed out in the NHAI report, we will definitely take action against the officials responsible”, Prahalad added.