BANGALORE: When the city witnessed IT boom a decade ago, the then Chief Minister S M Krishna wanted to make Bangalore a ‘Singapore’ by bringing in IT, Metro and many other projects. But the state of the roads below the hi-tech Namma Metro, would force anyone to wonder which Singapore were they referring to? The old but reliable method of the BBMP of ‘patch work’ and pothole filling has given it a ‘bruised and battered’ look, rather than the look of a posh city presenting high-tech machinery in the city. For the past 10 days, the BBMP has been toiling with 9 teams to bring the city to its ‘patched’ best for the visitors to see. It has spent Rs. 2.5 crore for a stretch of 46 km which extends from Hebbal to Old Airport Road, covering all roads which would be used for VVIP movement on October 20.Deputy Mayor S Harish was nonchalant about admitting that the works were undertaken for the sole purpose of making the ride comfortable for the VVIPs’ visiting the inauguration. “Of course this was an occasional event and we did this. Otherwise there is a general lack of maintenance, and because of ongoing Metro constructions, we could not fix it earlier,” the deputy mayor said. Joint Commissioner (East) Shivashankar blamed BMRCL for this. “We gave them a deadline of September 25 to fix the roads spoilt due to their construction work. But they fixed potholes only outside Metro stations and nowhere else,” he alleged. While it may pain the tax payer to know that he is being denied the basic right of good roads and a better city, it may also give him solace that visitors of the VVIP breed can bring him much respite from the otherwise troubled city dweller.
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