Karnataka elections are back, but no end to white-topping mess in Bengaluru

The BBMP every year allots crores of funds to lay concrete roads, a project that started in 2017 under then Congress government led by Siddaramaiah. Apart from creating a traffic mess, the project has also been a political subject every elections and it is the same ahead of the May 10 Karnataka Assembly elections

Bengaluru

The State is gearing up for a new government, but for residents and motorists in many parts of the city, it is their same old struggle with road closures and deviations to facilitate the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) project of white-topping the city roads. Apart from creating a traffic mess, the project has also been a political subject every election.

The BBMP every year allots crores of funds to lay concrete roads, a project that started in 2017 under the then Congress government led by Siddaramaiah.

According to the government, white-topping was a solution to ensure longevity of the city’s roads, but experts and citizens seem to disagree.

The BBMP had taken up white-topping work under the Chief Minister Nagarothana scheme. The white-topping project received ₹800 crore in 2016-17 for the development of 29 roads (93.47km), ₹690 crore in 2017-18 for the development of 41 roads (63.26 km), and ₹1,139 crore in 2018-19 for development of 89 roads (123 km).

The BJP government, which came to power in 2019 led by then Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, had ordered a probe into white-topping and TenderSure projects in the city, undertaken by the previous Congress, and the JD(S) and Congress coalition governments.

However, the probe report has not been released into the public domain so far and no action has been taken. Ironically, the present BJP government continued the project, amid opposition from party members.