The Bengaluru traffic police have served notices on 21 road contractors for pending road works in various parts of the city, which often lead to the piling up of debris and cause traffic congestion. Most of the works are related to whitetopping, according to Karthik Reddy, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), who had warned contractors of action over delays of more than three months.
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“Out of the 21 contractors, 18 have replied, and three are yet to respond to the notices. Most of the pending works are related to whitetopping. The notices were served based on the lapse of three months since the inception of work and the traffic police department’s clearance,” Reddy said.
However, in their responses, the contractors have cited the delay in receiving clearance from other civic agencies like Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company Limited (Bescom) and the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), among others. “They (contractors) are stating that other civic agencies are yet to finish their works and give clearance for going ahead with whitetopping,” added Reddy.
K T Manjunath, president of the Greater Bengaluru Authority Contractors Association, raised concerns over the growing delays in civic works across the city. Speaking to indianexpress.com, he said that unfinished tasks by utility providers such as optical fibre cable operators, Bescom, BSNL, and other agencies had left roads and drains in a disarray.
“This has created bottlenecks that are directly slowing down the progress of whitetopping projects,” said Manjunath.
Adding to the problem are unpaid bills, according to Manjunath. He said the Greater Bengaluru Authority was yet to release payments owed to several road contractors. He claimed that bills worth nearly Rs 6,000 crore, including those for road development and drain works, remained pending with the Government.
“The combination of incomplete utility works and stalled payments has left contractors struggling,” he said.