BBMP ‘cooks up’ report on bad state of roads after PMO intervenes, cites vague reasons

BENGALURU: With the Prime Minister’s Office seeking a report on the shoddy road work that was done ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state last week, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) seems to have cooked up a report to the CM, only to save its skin.

After taking up patch work on the section of road which caved in near the BASE campus just a day after the PM’s visit, the civic body is now claiming that the PM never used that road! But in view of the visit, that road too was repaired to fill potholes. However, seepage of water from an underground pipeline caused the cave-in, the BBMP has claimed.

While the civic body has tried to point fingers at the BWSSB, the water board chairman has outrightly denied that there was any leaking pipeline.

Initially, BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath had claimed that the cave-in was due to rain. Later on, he said that the road was laid in November 2021 and that no work was taken up on that road during the PM’s visit. Then again, he said that repair work was taken up on the road next to the one used by the Prime Minister since there was water seepage.

The Palike had spent Rs 6 crore on fixing roads around Jnana Bharati ahead of the PM’s two-day visit to Bengaluru and Mysuru.