BBMP begins blacktopping for 218 roads

New Indian Express

5 hours ago

BENGALURU: Bengaluru roads are in for a band-aid job. Can the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) do what even God cannot, as a fey Deputy Chief Minister told us?
The civic body is now engaged in garnishing 218 major roads with black topping—a total of 670 km at a modest Rs 694 crore.
M Lokesh, Chief Engineer, Road Infrastructure Department, BBMP, says the 'black' magic would transform the city roads to 'best' standards. He said the works are expected to be completed in the next 10 months.
In phase-1, BBMP claims it has fixed potholes on Mysuru Road and Magadi Road and the roads are in very good condition now. The work was taken up in these stretches due to heavy vehicle movement.
Lokesh said that the asphalt work will also involve using stone matrix (use of fibre material in the bitumen) and they will add it at low lying and areas where water stagnates during rains and other reasons.
'The bitumen, even if comes in contact with water, will not give away and the road will last long,' said Lokesh.
'By the end of December 2025, we hope to complete the works. The BBMP will also take up footpath repairs wherever it is necessary,' he added.
Road infrastructure expert D Prasad, a member of the Indian Road Congress, said the BBMP should have taken up the project in April and feared about the durability of the project.
'The base is wet due to the good monsoon. The blacktopping of roads may last up to a year now,' he said.
He also added that before blacktopping, the officials have to cut the potholes into box size, add bitumen and take up proper fixation before tarring the entire road stretch as this will avoid undulation.
However, an engineer from BBMP said the blacktopping is done only when there are no rains and the base is dry.
'The work from Jnanabharathi Metro Stop to Mysuru Road covering 5.35 km and Magadi Road covering 2.5 km is almost complete and the work was taken up from May and we have completed it. We braved rains and fixed potholes and later when the weather was dry, we blacktopped and used good bitumen. The roads will last over three years now,' claimed a BBMP engineer.