Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said he has given 30 days' time to officials to make all the roads in the city motorable, with potholes filled.
He said, the Commissioners and Chief Engineers of the five city corporations will be held responsible in case of any lapses.
The Chief Minister on Saturday went on a "city rounds" to inspect the condition of roads and ongoing work to fix potholes.
"I have given instructions to fill potholes and to maintain quality in the work. I have suspended an assistant executive engineer as he had left a pothole just by filling gravel without putting tar or wet mix. Contractors have to maintain the roads for which white topping is being done. White topping is being done for Hennur road, for which Rs 13 crore per km is being spent; it is a 5 km road project," Siddaramiah said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, he has given 30 days to make all roads motorable and to fill the potholes.
"Potholes have occurred due to increased rain. It should have been filled up, but it was not done. Now I have asked for potholes to be filled. I have given one month's time," he said.
To a question as to who will be held responsible for the pothole issue, Siddaramaiah said, "Potholes occur every year due to rains. Now that five Corporations have been formed in Bengaluru, Commissioners and Chief Engineers will be held responsible." The state government has drawn criticism for the poor state of roads in the city.
Several prominent people, including industry veterans in Bengaluru like former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai and Biocon Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw had recently urged the state government to immediately intervene.
The outrage against the condition of roads gained momentum following online trucking platform BlackBuck decided to move the company out of its current location at Bellandur on Bengaluru's Outer Ring Road (ORR), citing commuting and road infrastructure issues.
Stating that one cannot deny the pothole issue, the CM while responding to a question, said, "I don't want to blame the BJP, but they did not fill the potholes while in power, if they had done it, such a situation wouldn't have arisen. They didn't even release any funds for the maintenance of roads...leave it, we are in power now, we will ensure that the potholes are filled." Asked about the garbage issue which he witnessed during the city rounds, he said, "I have asked it to be removed. If not removed, and if I notice it again, action will be taken against the Commissioners (of the city corporations)." Reacting to a question on Bengaluru South BJP MP Tejasvi Surya's reported statement calling on people not to participate in Social and Educational Survey -- widely referred to as the "caste census" -- that is underway, claiming that there are chances for data leak, Siddaramaiah said, "people had gone to court, we will do the survey as per the directions of the court. Already ten lakh people have been surveyed." The Karnataka High Court on Thursday had declined to stop the survey but directed the State Backward Classes Commission to maintain the confidentiality of the collected data and ensure voluntary participation of citizens.
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