Bengaluru: 4-month-old road caves in partially, Congress corners BJP government
A portion of a service road built as part of the busy Kundalahalli underpass—inaugurated merely four months ago—in East Bengaluru caved in on Sunday, creating a sinkhole a few meters wide. The cave-in reportedly caused traffic snarls until it was repaired later in the day. Civic body officials said that leakage from a water pipeline there resulted in the road caving in.
Why does this story matter?
The newly-built Bengaluru road caving in hinted at shoddy work and swindling of funds allocated for the same. To recall, in June this year, a 3.6-kilometer stretch of Bengaluru's Jnana Bharthi Main Road was hastily repaired for Rs. 6 crore ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the IT hub. However, the road reportedly caved in just a day after the PM's visit.
The Kundanahalli road was fixed later in the day restoring traffic
Water leakage loosened soil resulting in cave-in: BBMP engineer
The service road—reportedly built as part of the Rs. 19.5cr Kundanahalli underpass—connects the eastern suburbs to other localities of Bengaluru. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, an executive engineer of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) told NDTV that water from the pipeline leak under the road seeped into the soil, turning it loose. The road was part of BBMP's Signal Free Corridor project.
Cauvery river water supply disrupted for 24 hours
The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB)—responsible for the city's underground utilities—has fixed the leakage by replacing the old pipe. Officials said a 450mm Cauvery Water Main Pipeline burst on Sunday, hampering water supply to some areas for 24 hours. Meanwhile, the concerned contractor repaired the service road for free as the underpass is covered under the Annual Maintenance and Defect Liability clause.
Another instance of 40% corruption: Congress
Following the cave-in, the opposition Congress launched an attack on Karnataka's BJP-led government, accusing it of corruption. Congress MLC Nagaraj Yadav called it another instance of "40%" corruption, alluding to the alleged "commission" taken by the government to award contracts. He demanded a criminal case be filed against the responsible contractor and officials. However, the government trashed the allegations, calling them "baseless political vendetta."
