Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister D K Shivakumar said Tuesday that a Detailed Project Report (DPR) is being prepared to white-top 500 km of city roads at an estimated cost of Rs 4,000 crore.
Speaking at an event in Bengaluru’s Gandhinagar constituency, he said that white-topping would increase the lifespan of roads by 25-30 years. “Already, white-topping works are being carried out along 148 km. For the development of 83 roads, Rs 1,800 crore is being spent,” he said.
Apart from this, black-topping works are being taken up along 182 roads spanning around 350 km at a cost of Rs 695 crore, Shivakumar added. Recently, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sanctioned Rs 1,100 crore to asphalt 550 km of roads in the city, he said.
Commenting on the works carried out to patch up potholes in the city, he said that around 10,000 potholes were filled in this manner. “During the tenure of Basavaraj Bommai as CM, the government had submitted an affidavit before the (high) court that there were 20,000 potholes in the city. The court was monitoring the works,” he said.
The Congress has, however, empowered people to highlight the problems faced by them, he said, asking whether there was any government in the past which asked residents of the city to take photographs of potholes and bring it to the attention of the government.
On funds sought from the Centre for infrastructure works in Bengaluru, Shivakumar said he had petitioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sanction Rs 1.5 lakh crore for the same. “However, there has been no response till now,” he stated.
Shivakumar said the government has also decided to construct elevated corridors running up to 113 km, adding that 40 km of tunnel roads are also being constructed in the first phase.