Monsoon is here, but prolonged infra works still drag in Bengaluru

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Almost every road and pavement in Bengaluru is currently dug up, as slew of works are ongoing in nearly all localities across the city. Roads are being scraped for white-topping by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), huge ditches have been dug to lay sewage and drain pipes by Bangalore Water Supply & Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and laying of Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) cables.

According to the New Indian Express, these works, however, were supposed to be completed before the onset of monsoons but that never happened.

The works have been delayed due to bureaucratic hurdles, heaping miseries upon residents of the localities where these works have been taken up and have remained “ongoing” for months on end, the report added.

Due to delays, Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) routes have been forced to be altered, and buses now have to move on already congested roads.

According to the report, procuring police permissions to commence the works, shifting of utilities to make way for the works, and contractors engaged with multiple prior works have caused these delays, even as work stoppages are common due to rains, only further delaying their completion.

The other problem staring at these works is the pending payments from the civic agencies to the contractors, which is a constant threat for works to be stopped mid-way, the report added.